A. Upon timely receipt of a tax protest filed in accordance with the provisions of Section 7-1-24 N.M. Stat. Ann., the taxation and revenue department shall promptly acknowledge the protest by letter to the protesting taxpayer or the taxpayer’s representative. If the department determines that the protest has not been filed in accordance with that section, the department shall, within twenty-one days of receipt of the protest, inform the taxpayer of the deficiency and provide the taxpayer, within twenty-one days of the taxpayer being informed, one opportunity to correct it. If the taxpayer corrects the deficiency, the protest shall be considered timely if the initial protest was filed within ninety days in accordance with Subsection D of Section 7-1-24 N.M. Stat. Ann.. A determination by the department that a protest has not been filed in accordance with that section may be protested by the taxpayer.

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B. Within one hundred eighty days, but no earlier than sixty days after the date of the protest, the taxation and revenue department shall request a hearing with the administrative hearings office. A taxpayer may request in writing an informal conference with the department within sixty days after the date of the protest, and the department shall conduct the requested informal conference within thirty days of the receipt of the request. Whether or not a taxpayer requests an informal conference with the department, a taxpayer may request a hearing with the administrative hearings office no earlier than sixty days from the date of the protest.

C. The taxation and revenue department shall include with its request for a hearing an answer to the protest describing the legal and factual bases supporting the department’s position beyond an assertion of the presumption of correctness and articulating the remaining protested issues.

D. In the event the taxpayer first requests a hearing with the administrative hearings office, the taxation and revenue department shall, within thirty days of service of the taxpayer’s request for a hearing, file its answer to the protest describing the legal and factual bases supporting the department’s position beyond an assertion of the presumption of correctness. The department may amend its answer to the protest up until ten days before the scheduled hearing or other deadline specified in a controlling scheduling order; provided that if the administrative hearings office determines that the department’s amended answer unfairly prejudices the taxpayer, the administrative hearings office may disallow the amended answer. The hearing shall be limited to the grounds provided in the taxpayer’s protest letter and in the department’s answer to the protest.

E. If the hearing officer finds that the taxation and revenue department failed to comply with the deadlines set forth in Subsections A and B of this section, the hearing officer may order that no further interest may accrue on the protested liability.

F. If the taxpayer files the request for a hearing, the chief hearing officer shall set a hearing to take place within ninety days of the taxation and revenue department’s answer to the protest, but in no case later than one hundred twenty days after the taxpayer’s request for a hearing. If the department files the request for hearing with the answer to the protest, the chief hearing officer shall set a hearing to take place within ninety days of that request. Absent a conflict of interest requiring the assigned hearing officer to recuse from the case pursuant to the administrative hearings office code of conduct or an unforeseen emergency circumstance such as an accident, unexpected medical condition or illness, or vacancy of the position of the assigned hearing officer, the chief hearing officer shall not reassign a hearing officer to a case without giving the department and the taxpayer notice of that reassignment at least fourteen days before the hearing. Either party may, within ten days of notice of hearing assigning a hearing officer or notice of reassignment of a hearing officer, exercise one time the peremptory right to excuse the hearing officer designated to conduct the hearing; provided that the party has not moved for a discretionary ruling from the assigned hearing officer, nor previously exercised its right of peremptory excusal. Once a hearing officer has been peremptorily excused, that hearing officer shall not be assigned to the case again.

G. The administrative hearings office shall rule on a dispositive motion, including a motion for summary judgment, a motion for partial summary judgment or a motion to dismiss, filed by the taxation and revenue department or the taxpayer at least thirty days before the hearing unless the parties consent to a different deadline in a scheduling order.

H. A taxpayer may appear at the hearing on the taxpayer’s own behalf, may appear through a bona fide employee or may be represented by an attorney, a certified public accountant, an employee of a New Mexico licensed certified public accounting firm whose authorization by the firm and by the taxpayer to appear is evidenced in writing or an enrolled agent. An attorney, a certified public accountant, an employee of a New Mexico licensed certified public accounting firm or an enrolled agent shall abide by their respective controlling professional or ethical standards of conduct at all stages of the administrative proceeding before the administrative hearings office. If the taxation and revenue department and the taxpayer agree, the hearing may be conducted via videoconference. At the beginning of the hearing, the hearing officer shall inform the taxpayer of the taxpayer’s right to representation. A hearing shall be closed to the public except upon request of the taxpayer. A hearing officer may postpone or continue a hearing at the hearing officer’s discretion. As used in this subsection, “enrolled agent” means a federally licensed tax practitioner with unlimited rights to represent taxpayers before the internal revenue service.

I. Within thirty days after the hearing, the hearing officer shall inform the taxation and revenue department and the taxpayer in writing of the decision and, in accordance with Section 7-1-25 N.M. Stat. Ann., of the aggrieved party’s right to, and the requirements for perfection of, an appeal from the decision to the court of appeals and of the consequences of a failure to appeal. The written decision shall embody:

(1)     an order granting or denying the relief requested or granting or denying a part of the relief requested, as appropriate; and

(2)     findings of fact and law and a thorough discussion of the reasoning used to support the order with citations to the record and applicable law.

J. A taxpayer with two or more protests containing related issues may request that the protests be combined and heard jointly. The hearing officer shall grant the request to combine protests unless it would create an unreasonable burden on the administrative hearings office or the taxation and revenue department.

K. Nothing in this section shall be construed to authorize a criminal proceeding or to authorize an administrative protest of the issuance of a subpoena or summons.