Wesley K. Miller – W&T Miller

13-15

On March 4, 2010, the Department assessed the Taxpayer for gross receipts tax, penalty and interest, for receipts received as an independent contractor, on which gross receipts tax was not paid for the years ending December 31, 2005, and December 31, 2006.  The Taxpayer filed a protest to the assessments, arguing that his transportation services receipts were deductible under NMSA 1978, Section 7-9-56 as part of the fulfillment of interstate transportation under a single contract. The Taxpayer’s father was engaged in the business of transporting grain from large out-of-state companies to New Mexico customers. When his father could not handle the volume of work, the father subcontracted with the Taxpayer to deliver grain from Albuquerque to farmers in Valencia and Bernalillo Counties. All of the Taxpayer’s transportation services were intrastate. The   Taxpayer was not a party to the contracts between his father and the out-of-state grain sellers and there was no evidence that single contract for interstate transportation existed between the father and sellers. Because the Taxpayer failed to produce sufficient evidence that his intrastate transportation activities were part of the fulfillment of interstate transportation under a single contract, the Taxpayers’ protest was denied.