AI-assisted research summary: Wholesalers owe liquor excise tax on unpaid alcoholic beverages they sell, with different rates for spirituous liquors, beer, wine, fortified wine, cider, and certain microbrewer, small winegrower, and craft distiller products.
7-17-5. Imposition and rate of liquor excise tax. A. There is imposed on a wholesaler who sells alcoholic beverages on which the tax imposed by this section has not been paid an excise tax, to be referred to as the "liquor excise tax", at the following rates on alcoholic beverages sold: (1) on spirituous liquors, except as provided in Paragraph (9) of this subsection, one dollar sixty cents ($1.60) per liter; (2) on beer, except as provided in Paragraph (5) of this subsection, forty-one cents ($.41) per gallon; (3) on wine, except as provided in Paragraphs (4) and (6) of this subsection, forty-five cents ($.45) per liter; (4) on fortified wine, one dollar fifty cents ($1.50) per liter; (5) on beer manufactured or produced by a microbrewer and sold in this state, provided that proof is furnished to the department that the beer was manufactured or produced by a microbrewer, eight cents ($.08) per gallon on the first thirty thousand barrels sold, twenty-eight cents ($.28) per gallon for all barrels sold over thirty thousand barrels but less than sixty thousand barrels and forty-one cents ($.41) per gallon for sixty thousand or more barrels sold; (6) on wine manufactured or produced by a small winegrower and sold in this state, provided that proof is furnished to the department that the wine was manufactured or produced by a small winegrower: (a) ten cents ($.10) per liter on the first eighty thousand liters sold; (b) twenty cents ($.20) per liter on each liter sold over eighty thousand liters but not over nine hundred fifty thousand liters; and (c) thirty cents ($.30) per liter on each liter sold over nine hundred fifty thousand liters but not over one million five hundred thousand liters; (7) on cider, except as provided in Paragraph (8) of this subsection, forty-one cents ($.41) per gallon; (8) on cider manufactured or produced by a small winegrower and sold in this state, provided that proof is furnished to the department that the cider was manufactured or produced by a small winegrower, eight cents ($.08) per gallon on the first thirty thousand barrels sold, twenty-eight cents ($.28) per gallon for all barrels sold over thirty thousand barrels but less than sixty thousand barrels and forty-one cents ($.41) per gallon for sixty thousand or more barrels sold; and (9) on spirituous liquors manufactured or produced by a craft distiller licensed pursuant to Section 60-6A-6.1 NMSA 1978, provided that proof is provided to the department that the spirituous liquors were manufactured or produced by a craft distiller, for products up to ten percent alcohol by volume, eight cents ($.08) per liter for the first two hundred fifty thousand liters sold and twenty-eight cents ($.28) per liter for the next two hundred fifty thousand liters sold and for products over ten percent alcohol by volume, thirty-two cents ($.32) per liter on the first one hundred seventy-five thousand liters sold and sixty-five cents ($.65) per liter on the next two hundred thousand liters sold. B. The volume of wine transferred from one winegrower to another winegrower for processing, bottling or storage and subsequent return to the transferor shall be excluded pursuant to Section 7-17-6 NMSA 1978 from the taxable volume of wine of the transferee. Wine transferred from an initial winegrower to a second winegrower remains a tax liability of the transferor, provided that if the wine is transferred to the transferee for the transferee's use or for resale, the transferee then assumes the liability for the tax due pursuant to this section. C. A transfer of wine from a winegrower to a wholesaler for distribution of the wine transfers the liability for payment of the liquor excise tax to the wholesaler upon the sale of the wine by the wholesaler. History: 1978 Comp., § 7-17-5, enacted by Laws 1993, ch. 65, § 8; 1994, ch. 52, § 2; 1995, ch. 74, § 2; 1996, ch. 49, § 2; 1997, ch. 143, § 2; 2000, ch. 43, § 1; 2000 (2nd S.S.), ch. 8, § 2; 2008, ch. 82, § 2; 2013, ch. 94, § 2; 2013, ch. 95, § 2; 2019, ch. 229, § 2.