Keep New Mexico weight-distance taxes on the radar
You’re up to date on your IFTA and HVUT tax payments, congratulations! Not so fast. If you operate in New Mexico, you’re not quite finished.
Beyond the routine
You’re probably familiar with the routine taxes that most carriers must pay.
One main program, the International Fuel Tax Agreement (IFTA), requires carriers to obtain a license and file quarterly tax returns with a base jurisdiction. The base jurisdiction then distributes the necessary fuel taxes to other jurisdictions.
Another tax that often applies to carriers, the Heavy Vehicle Use Tax (HVUT), is collected by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and applies to highway motor vehicles with taxable gross weights of 55,000 pounds or more.
Those programs are fairly well known. But there are a handful of states — New Mexico is one — that also assess carriers with a “weight-distance” tax in addition to the heavy vehicle use and IFTA taxes.
New Mexico specifics
In New Mexico, the weight-distance tax (WDT) applies to owners, operators, and registrants of intra- and interstate commercial vehicles with a declared gross vehicle weight in excess of 26,000 pounds.
Owners and operators of all motor vehicles with a declared gross weight or gross vehicle weight in excess of 26,000 pounds who are using highways in the state must file a return and pay the tax.
If your trucks operate on New Mexico highways, you do have options. You can register each vehicle and then report and pay weight-distance tax quarterly, or you could pay the trip tax each time one of your trucks enters or exits the state.
The tax is based on vehicle weight and miles traveled on New Mexico roads, so you’ll need those records. The tax is computed by multiplying the miles traveled in New Mexico by the applicable tax rate. If your operation is subject to the weight-distance tax, remember to:
- File a New Mexico weight-distance tax return on a quarterly basis, and
- Pay the tax due to the Motor Vehicle Division.
If this program applies to your fleet, you must register and apply each year for a New Mexico Weight-Distance Tax Electronic Permit for each of your vehicles. If a quarterly weight-distance tax report has not been submitted, the system will not allow the e-permit to be processed.
Key to remember: If you operate in New Mexico, be sure to add the weight-distance tax to your list of quarterly payments.