7-17-2. Definitions.
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/nm/chapter-7-taxation/article-17-liquor-excise-tax/7-17-2·A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.
As used in the Liquor Excise Tax Act:
A. "alcoholic beverages" means distilled or rectified spirits, potable alcohol, brandy, whiskey, rum, gin, aromatic bitters or any similar beverage, including blended or fermented beverages, dilutions or mixtures of one or more of the foregoing containing more than one-half of one percent alcohol by volume, but "alcoholic beverages" does not include medicinal bitters;
B. "beer" means an alcoholic beverage obtained by the fermentation of any infusion or decoction of barley, malt and hops or other cereals in water and includes porter, beer, ale and stout;
C. "cider" means an alcoholic beverage made from the normal alcoholic fermentation of the juice of sound, ripe apples or pears that contains not less than one- half of one percent of alcohol by volume and not more than eight and one-half percent of alcohol by volume;
D. "department" means the taxation and revenue department, the secretary of taxation and revenue or any employee of the department exercising authority lawfully delegated to that employee by the secretary;
E. "fortified wine" means wine containing more than fourteen percent alcohol by volume when bottled or packaged by the manufacturer, but "fortified wine" does not include:
(1)wine that is sealed or capped by cork closure and aged two years or more;
(2)wine that contains more than fourteen percent alcohol by volume solely as a result of the natural fermentation process and that has not been produced with the addition of wine spirits, brandy or alcohol; or
(3)vermouth and sherry;
F. "microbrewer" means a person who produces less than two hundred thousand barrels of beer per year;
G. "person" includes, to the extent permitted by law, a federal, state or other governmental unit or subdivision or an agency, department, institution or instrumentality thereof;
H. "small winegrower" means a winegrower who produces less than one million five hundred thousand liters of wine in a year;
I. "spirituous liquors" means alcoholic beverages, except fermented beverages such as wine, beer, cider and ale;
J. "wholesaler" means a person holding a license issued under Section 60-6A-1 NMSA 1978 or a person selling alcoholic beverages that were not purchased from a person holding a license issued under Section 60-6A-1 NMSA 1978;
K. "wine" means an alcoholic beverage other than cider that is obtained by the fermentation of the natural sugar contained in fruit or other agricultural products, with or without the addition of sugar or other products, and that does not contain more than twenty-one percent alcohol by volume; and
L. "winegrower" means a person licensed pursuant to Section 60-6A-11 NMSA 1978.
History: 1953 Comp., § 46-7-16, enacted by Laws 1966, ch. 49, § 2; recompiled as 1953 Comp., § 72-32-2, by Laws 1973, ch. 166, § 2; 1984, ch. 85, § 2; 1986, ch. 20, § 74; 1991, ch. 161, § 1; 1993, ch. 65, § 6; 1994, ch. 52, § 1; 1995, ch. 70, § 18; 1995, ch. 74, § 1; 1996, ch. 49, § 1; 1997, ch. 143, § 1; 2000 (2nd S.S.), ch. 8, § 1; 2008, ch. 82, § 1; 2013, ch. 94, § 1; 2013, ch. 95, § 1; 2019, ch. 229, § 1.