N.M. Code R. § 3.1.3.11 – Taxpayer “Waiver” of Confidentiality

A. For the purpose of Section 7-1-8 NMSA 1978, and except as provided in Subsection 7-1-24E NMSA 1978 for a taxpayer request for an administrative hearing to be open to the public, there is no provision in the Tax Administration Act for a taxpayer to “waive” the provisions of Section 7-1-8 NMSA 1978 as applied to an employee or former employee of the department. The provisions of Section 7-1-8 NMSA 1978 and the punitive provisions of Section 7-1-76 NMSA 1978 are imposed on an employee or former employee and cannot be released by a taxpayer. The secretary will not accept or approve a purported “waiver” of confidentiality under Section 7-1-8 NMSA 1978 from taxpayers who attempt to make lawful that which is unlawful for employees and former employees of the department.
B. Example: A taxpayer and the taxpayer's attorney attend an informal conference with the secretary and department attorneys to discuss the tax consequences of the taxpayer's activities as a seller of tangible personal property in New Mexico. The taxpayer's attorney announces that a buyer (who is also a taxpayer) of the client's property has no objections to information from the buyer's tax returns being revealed by the secretary to those present in the conference. The attorney, although not representing the buyer, has a signed letter from the buyer “waiving” confidentiality of information in the buyer's returns which are in the possession of the department. This “waiver” does not make it lawful for the secretary or any other department employee to act upon this request by revealing the buyer's tax records or to give any information about the buyer acquired as a result of employment by the department. The buyer can obtain the information from the department and make any use of it the buyer deems proper. Or, in the alternative, the buyer could appoint the attorney in question the buyer's “authorized representative” to receive this information.
[11/5/1985, 8/15/1990, 10/31/1996; 3.1.3.11 NMAC - Rn & A, 3 NMAC 1.3.11, 12/29/2000]