{"id":18100,"date":"2026-03-19T11:05:57","date_gmt":"2026-03-19T17:05:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.tax.newmexico.gov\/all-nm-taxes\/?p=18100"},"modified":"2026-04-11T13:19:31","modified_gmt":"2026-04-11T19:19:31","slug":"spectrasite-communications-llc-atc-ponderosa-k-llc-and-american-tower-llc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tax.newmexico.gov\/all-nm-taxes\/2026\/03\/19\/spectrasite-communications-llc-atc-ponderosa-k-llc-and-american-tower-llc\/","title":{"rendered":"Spectrasite Communications LLC, ATC Ponderosa K LLC, and American Tower LLC"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>[et_pb_section fb_built=&#8221;1&#8243; _builder_version=&#8221;4.16&#8243; _module_preset=&#8221;default&#8221; background_enable_image=&#8221;off&#8221; custom_padding=&#8221;0px||||false|false&#8221; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221; theme_builder_area=&#8221;et_body_layout&#8221;][et_pb_row _builder_version=&#8221;4.16&#8243; _module_preset=&#8221;default&#8221; custom_padding=&#8221;0px||0px|||&#8221; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221; theme_builder_area=&#8221;et_body_layout&#8221;][et_pb_column type=&#8221;4_4&#8243; _builder_version=&#8221;4.16&#8243; _module_preset=&#8221;default&#8221; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221; theme_builder_area=&#8221;et_body_layout&#8221;][et_pb_text _builder_version=&#8221;4.27.6&#8243; _module_preset=&#8221;default&#8221; hover_enabled=&#8221;0&#8243; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221; theme_builder_area=&#8221;et_body_layout&#8221; sticky_enabled=&#8221;0&#8243;]<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/realfile.tax.newmexico.gov\/26-04_Spectracite%20Et%20al.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">26-04<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The Taxpayers filed a formal protest after the Department denied their request for a refund of gross receipts taxes. Taxpayers own or control numerous telecommunications tower sites in New Mexico. Wireless carriers installed antennas and related telecommunications equipment at and on the tower sites to transmit and receive cell phone calls. The Taxpayer asserted that its agreements with wireless telecommunications carriers qualified as deductible real\u2011property leases under Section 7-9-53(A) NMSA 1978. The Department denied the refund request, determining that the agreements conveyed only limited licenses or access rights for the placement and operation of telecommunications equipment. Upon review, the hearing office evaluated the evidence, in comparison to the principles set forth in <em>Quantum v. State Taxation and Revenue Department <\/em>and found that the carriers did not obtain exclusive possession of the telecommunications carriers&#8217; towers. The towers remained under the continuing control of the owner, despite contractual language characterizing the arrangements as leases. The Hearing Officer concluded that the agreements constituted licenses or limited rights of use rather than leases of real property. The protest was denied.<\/p>\n<p>[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>26-04 The Taxpayers filed a formal protest after the Department denied their request for a refund of gross receipts taxes. Taxpayers own or control numerous telecommunications tower sites in New Mexico. Wireless carriers installed antennas and related telecommunications equipment at and on the tower sites to transmit and receive cell phone calls. The Taxpayer asserted [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18100","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-tax-decisions-orders"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Spectrasite Communications LLC, ATC Ponderosa K LLC, and American Tower LLC : All NM Taxes<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tax.newmexico.gov\/all-nm-taxes\/2026\/03\/19\/spectrasite-communications-llc-atc-ponderosa-k-llc-and-american-tower-llc\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Spectrasite Communications LLC, ATC Ponderosa K LLC, and American Tower LLC : All NM Taxes\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"26-04 The Taxpayers filed a formal protest after the Department denied their request for a refund of gross receipts taxes. 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