Weekly Edition | March 8, 2012 | By: NP staff [email protected]

Albuquerque, NM – On Monday, Gov. Susana Martinez met with over 200 NM business owners and leaders from across the state. She signed a legislation SB32 which will provide $81 million of temporary tax relief to small businesses.

“As New Mexico job creators are working to get our economy back on track and hire new workers, it’s vital that we provide this temporary tax relief to ensure that we’re not putting barriers in the way of job creation,” said Governor Martinez. “Working in a bipartisan fashion with Sen. John Arthur Smith and others, I am encouraged that we passed a significant amount of tax reform and tax relief for small businesses during this past session.”

Last month, Gov. Martinez signed a similiar legislation that provides tax relief to the state’s construction and manufacturing sectors. In NM, certain goods and services get double or even triple taxed- this legislation is said to curb that and will also give small business owners tax credit of up to $1,000 if they hire a veteran who has returned from service in Iraq or Afghanistan

SB 32 prevents this burden from being imposed on New Mexico job creators this year (maintaining a level 1 rate schedule in 2012 and moving to a level 2 rate schedule in 2013), providing $81 million in temporary tax relief in 2012 and additional relief in 2013. In the past, NM businesses faced a rate increase which would be a rate level three.

Martinez’s goal is for future fluctuations in the fund to be determined by actuarial and economic conditions and for rate changes to be gradual and guided by experts on the unemployment council so that the fund truly operates as an insurance mechanism for businesses.