A.STATEMENT OF PROOF OF ELIGIBILITY FOR VETERANS AND HEAD-OF-FAMILY EXEMPTION: The statement of proof of eligibility for veterans and head of family exemptions required by Subsection F of Section 7-38-17 NMSA 1978 must be on a standard preprinted form, prepared and paid for by the county assessor and in form and content prescribed by the director. Any form other than the standard form prescribed by the director and any method of making the form available to property owners other than the method directed by this subsection must be approved in writing by the director prior to such use. A request must be in writing and include the reason for the proposed use.B.ISSUANCE OF CERTIFICATE OF ELIGIBILITY BY THE VETERANS SERVICE COMMISSION: The veterans service commission is required to issue original and duplicate certificates of eligibility for veterans' exemptions in substantially the following form:TAX EXEMPTION
CERTIFICATE OF ELIGIBILITY
FOR VETERANS
This certifies that (name of veteran) who is living or deceased acquired legal residence in the State of New Mexico on ______________ and served in the military forces of the United States from __________ to __________ and that (name of applicant), (veteran or widow), whose address is:
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
is entitled to tax exemption benefits in the state of New Mexico under the provisions of Section 7-37-5 NMSA 1978.
This certificate must be presented to the county assessor each time a veteran exemption is claimed, subsequently released, or subsequently claimed. Applicant must be a current New Mexico resident to qualify.
Date: ________________
Amount ________________:
Character of exemption claimed or granted: _______________________________________________
Signature of assessor: _____________________________________________________________
County: ___________________________________________________________________________
C.VERIFICATION OF THE ISSUANCE OF CERTIFICATES AND THE CLAIMING OF VETERANS EXEMPTIONS:(1) No certificate of eligibility shall be issued by the veterans service commission unless application therefor has been made in writing in the form provided by the commission and the application is submitted with the appropriate United States department of defense separation form.(2) A copy of the certificate of eligibility shall be mailed to the county assessor of the county in which the applicant resides by the commission. In lieu of sending a copy of the certificate, the commission may send a listing to the county if the listing contains the information presented on the form prescribed by Subsection B of Section 3.6.7.25 NMAC. The listing may be transmitted in electronic or optical format if the county assessor accepts that format.(3) No claim of the veteran exemption shall be allowed by a county assessor unless accompanied by a verified certificate of exemption.D.VALIDATION OF CERTIFICATE OF ELIGIBILITY BY COUNTY ASSESSOR - PARTIAL OR FULL RELEASE OF CLAIMED EXEMPTION:(1) County assessors are to validate the certificate of eligibility for claimed veteran exemptions by notation on the certificate of the date a veteran exemption is first claimed, dates of subsequent releases of the exemption, dates of subsequent claiming of the exemption and the amount applied in each instance.(2) If a county assessor for one county issues a partial or full release of a claimed exemption on property located in that county, the amount of the exemption released shall be noted by the assessor on the certificate of eligibility and the certificate is, after this notation and the notations referred to in the preceding paragraph, valid for use in claiming the amount of the exemption released in another county.E.HEAD-OF-FAMILY AND VETERAN EXEMPTIONS - "RESIDENT" DEFINED: For the purposes of the head-of-family and veteran exemptions provided by Sections 7-37-4 and 7-37-5 NMSA 1978, "a New Mexico resident" means an individual who is domiciled in this state on January 1 of the tax year for which the exemption is claimed. A person is domiciled in New Mexico if he or she is physically present in New Mexico, except for short absences for reason of health, vacation, visits or temporary work assignments, with a bona fide intention of continuing to live in New Mexico. No person shall be deemed to have acquired or lost residency by reason of presence or absence from New Mexico: (1) while employed in the service of the United States or of the state, or(2) while a student at any school.F.VERIFICATION OF THE DOLLAR AMOUNT OF VETERAN EXEMPTIONS CLAIMED - MULTIPLE CLAIMING:(1) When a veteran's certificate of eligibility is presented to the county assessor for an initial claim in a county, the assessor shall determine if the exemption has been previously claimed in another county. If the exemption has been claimed previously, the county assessor shall verify with the assessor in the other county that the exemption has been released. If the exemption has not been released and a full $2,000 is being granted in the other county, the assessor shall deny the claim. If the exemption is being partially claimed in the other county, the county assessor determines the amount of exemption which is not being claimed and grant the exemption only for that amount.(2) The assessor shall prepare a listing of all veteran exemptions being claimed for the first time in the assessor's county. The listing shall include the name and address of the veteran, the certificate number, property against which the exemption is claimed and the dollar amount of the exemption allowed. If the exemption has been previously claimed in another county, the county assessor shall also include in the listing the county in which the exemption was previously claimed, the property against which the exemption is claimed and the dollar amount allowed. The report on veteran exemptions granted for the first time shall be submitted by the county assessor to the department by March 15 of each tax year. In addition, a list of all veteran exemptions granted for the tax year shall be sent to the department by May 1.(3) The division, upon receipt of the list of veteran exemptions granted for the first time, shall review its files to determine whether the persons have claimed the exemption previously in the same county under the current certificate number or another certificate number. If it is found that more than one certificate is being used, the division will notify the county assessor and the veterans service commission. When there is an indication that the exemption has been previously claimed in another county, the division will review its list of all veteran exemptions granted in the county to determine if the exemption has been dropped.(4) If the exemption is being claimed in more than one county, the division shall contact each county assessor to verify the amount of exemption being granted to insure that no more than $2,000 is allowed. If it is found that a veteran exemption of more than $2,000 has been claimed by an individual, the county assessor or assessors in the counties in which the multiple claims have been filed will be requested by the division to reduce the amount of exemption being granted or to deny the application of the exemption in their county.N.M. Admin. Code § 3.6.7.25
3/23/83, 6/1/83, 12/29/94, 8/31/96; 3.6.7.25 NMAC - Rn & A, 3 NMAC 6.7.25, 4/30/01