New Mexico Statutes Chapter 7. Taxation § 7-37-5. Veteran exemption

A. An amount as provided in Subsection B of this section of the taxable value of property, including the community or joint property of married individuals, subject to the tax is exempt from the imposition of the tax if the property is owned by a veteran or the veteran's unmarried surviving spouse if the veteran or surviving spouse is a New Mexico resident or if the property is held in a grantor trust established under Sections 671 through 677 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as those sections may be amended or renumbered, by a veteran or the veteran's unmarried surviving spouse if the veteran or surviving spouse is a New Mexico resident.  The exemption shall be deducted from the taxable value of the property to determine the net taxable value of the property.

B. The exemption allowed shall be in the following amounts for the specified tax years:

C. For tax year 2026 and subsequent tax years, the amount of exemption shall be adjusted to account for inflation.  The department shall make the adjustment by multiplying ten thousand dollars ($10,000) by a fraction, the numerator of which is the consumer price index ending during the prior tax year and the denominator of which is the consumer price index ending in tax year 2025.  The result of the multiplication shall be rounded down to the nearest one hundred dollars ($100), except that if the result would be an amount less than the corresponding amount for the preceding tax year, then no adjustment shall be made.

D. The department shall publish annually the amount determined by the calculation made pursuant to Subsection C of this section and provide the calculated amount to each county assessor no later than December 1 of the prior tax year.

E. The veteran exemption shall be applied only if claimed and allowed in accordance with Section 7-38-17 NMSA 1978 and regulations of the department.

F. As used in this section, “veteran” means an individual who:

G. For the purposes of Subsection F of this section, a person who would otherwise be entitled to status as a veteran except for failure to have served in the armed forces continuously for ninety days is considered to have met that qualification if the person served for less than ninety days and the reason for not having served for ninety days was a discharge brought about by service-connected disablement.

H. For the purposes of Subsection F of this section, a person has been “honorably discharged” unless the person received either a dishonorable discharge or a discharge for misconduct.

I. For the purposes of this section, a person whose civilian service has been recognized as service in the armed forces of the United States under federal law and who has been issued a discharge certificate by a branch of the armed forces of the United States shall be considered to have served in the armed forces of the United States.