Emcore Corporation

13-20

The Taxpayer prepared and signed an application for an Alternative Energy Product Manufacturer’s Tax Credit on July 24, 2011.  The Taxpayer did not mail that application to the Department until December 21 2011. The Department received the application on December 29, 2011.  The Alternative Energy Product Manufacturer’s Tax Credit requires an increase of at least one full-time equivalent employee in the one-year period before application.  From July 24, 2010 until the July 24, 2011 date of signature on the application, the Taxpayer had an increase in employees. However, from the one-year period beginning on December 21, 2010 through the December 21, 2011 mailing of the application, the Taxpayer had a net reduction of 146 employees.  The Department denied the Taxpayer’s application for the credit.  The Taxpayer protested the Department’s denial of the application for the Alternative Energy Product Manufacturer’s Tax Credit, arguing that the date of signature on the application determined when the application was filed.  The hearing officer found that for the purposes of Section 7-9J-5 NMSA 1978, the Taxpayers did not apply for the credit until they mailed their application to the Department on December 21, 2011. Therefore, since the Taxpayer had a net reduction in employees in the year before that mailing, the Department properly denied the credit because the Taxpayer did not satisfy the eligibility requirements under Section 7-9J-5 NMSA 1978.  The Taxpayer’s protest was denied.