Two bills addressing changes to liquor excise taxes have been filed for consideration during the 2025 New Mexico Legislature. House Bill 417 introduces a liquor excise “surtax” that would be collected at the retail level, while Senate Bill 378 retains the collection of liquor excise taxes at the wholesale level but increases the per-liter tax rates.
As proposed, HB-417 would require restaurants, bars, and stores that sell alcohol to collect 6 percent of every sale of alcohol and remit the tax to the state each month. The New Mexico Alcohol Alliance is strongly opposed to this bill.
Collecting a tax at the retail level puts yet another costly burden on small businesses that will be required to set up new systems for collection and remittance. New Mexico small businesses are paying higher labor and materials costs than before the pandemic, and many have not yet recovered from pandemic-era closures. A new tax is unnecessary in a state with consistent revenue surpluses and is burdensome to the small retailers charged with collecting it.
HB-417 is slated to be heard by the House Health & Human Services Committee. As of Feb. 17, it is not on the committee’s schedule but is expected to be soon. These links are to the bill summary page, the committee and the bill.
SB-378 takes another approach to legislators’ desire to increase liquor excise taxes. It retains collection at the wholesale level where distributors already have a system in place for collection, and it applies tax rate increases to the liter-volume sold as has historically been done. The proposed rate increases are not as high as those proposed in previous legislative sessions.
SB-378 will be heard by the Senate Tax, Business, and Transportation Committee, but it is not yet on the schedule as of Feb. 17. When scheduled, it will be posted here.
New Mexico Alcohol Alliance members will be updated by email about any bill movements. Join us to stay informed.