New Mexico Administrative Code
Title 3 - TAXATION
Chapter 2 - GROSS RECEIPTS TAXES
Part 127 - EXEMPTION - GROSS RECEIPTS TAX - FEES FROM SOCIAL ORGANIZATIONS
Section 3.2.127.10 - GENERAL EXAMPLES - REGISTRATION FEES

A. Example 1: The XYZ Association holds a convention once each year. The registration fee is $10.00 per person. This registration fee is exempt.

B. Example 2: The D Club, a corporation not organized for profit, has an annual deer hunt on property which it owns. For a fee of $300 a member is allowed to hunt on the ranch for one week. The club refuses to pay gross receipts tax on these receipts on the theory that the receipts are in fact dues. These receipts are not dues. The term "dues" refers to amounts which a member of an organization pays at recurring intervals for the general maintenance and upkeep of an organization. The fee is not a registration fee because a deer hunt is not similar to a convention. Furthermore, the D Club is not a nonprofit social, fraternal, political, trade, labor or professional organization, nor a business league, therefore, the receipts from the annual hunt are subject to the gross receipts tax.

C. Example 3: The W Association, an association not organized for profit, is formed to supply water for non-irrigational purposes to the members of the association. A $200 initial fee is levied upon each new member. The fee is used to pay for the installation of service to the member's property and to apply to the debt owed on the existing equipment. Each month thereafter, the association levies a $5.00 charge on each member. The association maintains that the initial fee is a registration fee, the monthly charges membership dues, and therefore neither are subject to the gross receipts tax under Section 7-9-39 NMSA 1978. All receipts of the association are used for the purpose of providing services to the members. They are not dues or registration fees. Moreover, the association is not a nonprofit social, fraternal, political, trade, labor or professional organization, nor a business league. The receipts of the association are subject to gross receipts tax.

D. Example 4: Z is a food club organized to provide lower prices for its members through high volume and direct purchasing. It is not organized for profit. Each member pays $20.00 a year to cover the cost of administration. These receipts, though being members' dues, are subject to tax because Z is not a nonprofit social, fraternal, political, trade, labor or professional organization, nor a business league. Receipts from the food purchases of the members are also subject to the gross receipts tax.