HOUSE BILL 159

46th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - second session, 2004

INTRODUCED BY

Rick Miera

AN ACT

RELATING TO TAXATION; CREATING AN INCOME TAX CREDIT FOR CONTRIBUTIONS FOR CULTURAL PROPERTY PRESERVATION.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO:

     Section 1. A new section of the Income Tax Act is enacted to read:

     "[NEW MATERIAL] CREDIT FOR CONTRIBUTIONS FOR CULTURAL PROPERTY PRESERVATION.--

          A. A taxpayer who files an individual New Mexico income tax return and who is not a dependent of another individual may claim a credit not to exceed a maximum aggregate of twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000) in an amount equal to one-half of a monetary contribution made by the taxpayer to a state or local government or to a corporation that is exempt from the federal income tax as an organization described in Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code for the purpose of restoration, rehabilitation or preservation of a cultural property listed on the official New Mexico register. The tax credit may be known as the "cultural property contribution tax credit".

          B. The cultural property contribution tax credit shall not be allowed for a contribution that is included in the taxpayer's itemized deductions, as defined in Section 63 of the Internal Revenue Code, for the taxable year.

          C. A husband and wife who file separate returns for a taxable year in which they could have filed a joint return may each claim only one-half of the credit that would have been allowed on a joint return.

          D. The credit provided in this section may only be deducted from the taxpayer's income tax liability. Any portion of the maximum tax credit provided by this section that remains unused at the end of the taxpayer's taxable year may be carried forward for four consecutive years."

     Section 2. APPLICABILITY.--The provisions of this act apply to taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2004.

- 2 -