08/31/2005
In July 1997, the Department filed a tax lien on the taxpayer’s property based on personal income tax assessments issued in 1992 and 1993. In 2003, the taxpayer asked the Department to release the lien. The Department refused, and the taxpayer protested, claiming that the lien should be released because Section 7-1-19 NMSA 1978 prevented the Department from taking any action to foreclose the tax lien. The hearing officer denied the protest, finding that Section 7-1-39, rather than Section 7-1-19, sets out the statutory prerequisites for releasing or extinguishing tax liens.