How to Get a Tax ID Number in New Mexico Online

To get a tax ID number in New Mexico online, register your business through the Taxation and Revenue Department’s Taxpayer Access Point, known as TAP. Registration is free, and the portal typically issues your Business Tax Identification Number (BTIN) immediately after you submit the application.¹ The BTIN is what you use to report and pay gross receipts tax, compensating tax, and withholding tax.

Anyone earning money from selling goods, providing services, or leasing property in New Mexico needs one, whether you operate as a sole proprietor, partnership, LLC, corporation, or nonprofit.¹

What to Have Ready Before You Start

The online application asks for the same information as the paper Form ACD-31015. Gather these items first so you can move through TAP without stopping:²

A federal tax identification number: your SSN, ITIN, or EIN.
Your legal business name, exactly as it appears in your formation documents or federal registration.
A physical business address (not a P.O. Box). New Mexico uses destination-based sourcing, so the address helps determine which local gross receipts tax rates apply.³
A mailing address for correspondence and your registration certificate.
The date you began or will begin earning receipts in New Mexico.
At least one six-digit NAICS code describing your primary business activity. You can look yours up on the U.S. Census Bureau site.⁴
Names, titles, addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, and SSNs or ITINs for all owners, partners, officers, and managers.
If you have employees, the date of your first hire, so the department can set up a withholding tax account.

Get a Federal EIN First If You Need One

Unless you are a sole proprietor without employees, you will likely need a federal Employer Identification Number before you register with the state. The New Mexico form requires an SSN, ITIN, or EIN in that identification field.² Partnerships, LLCs, and corporations should apply for the EIN first so it’s ready when you open the state application.

The IRS issues EINs for free through its online tool, which is available Monday through Friday from 6:00 a.m. to 1:00 a.m. Eastern, Saturday from 6:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m., and Sunday from 6:00 p.m. to midnight. The responsible party is limited to one EIN per day.⁵ You can also apply by mailing or faxing Form SS-4.⁶

Even sole proprietors who could use an SSN often prefer to apply for an EIN. It keeps your Social Security Number off business paperwork.

Registering Through TAP

Go to the Taxation and Revenue Department’s Online Services page and look for the link labeled “Apply for a New Mexico Business Tax ID” on the TAP homepage.⁷ You’ll walk through screens that mirror the fields on Form ACD-31015: business identification, ownership, physical and mailing addresses, NAICS code, start date, and, if applicable, employee information.

Based on what you enter, the department assigns individual account numbers for each tax type that applies — gross receipts tax, compensating tax, governmental gross receipts tax, withholding tax, and several specialized taxes.¹ The BTIN itself is issued almost immediately upon successful submission, and the same TAP account then lets you file returns, make payments, and manage your registration going forward.⁷

If you would rather use the paper form, you can email the completed four-page ACD-31015 to Business.Reg@tax.nm.gov, mail it to the Compliance Registration Unit at PO Box 50130, Albuquerque, NM 87181-0130, or deliver it in person at one of the five district offices by appointment.²⁸ These routes are slower because staff must key in your data by hand.

Picking a Filing Frequency

During registration you have to choose how often you’ll file returns: monthly, quarterly, or semiannually. If your average total tax liability for gross receipts tax or withholding tax exceeds $200 per month over any 12-month period, monthly filing is required. Businesses below that average may pick any of the three.⁹

If you’re new and don’t know your volume yet, quarterly is a common middle ground. You can request a change later if your liability crosses the $200 monthly threshold.

After You Submit

Once your online application is approved, the department issues a registration certificate you can view and print from your TAP account. This certificate is your proof of registration, and wholesalers or other vendors may ask to see it before selling to you at wholesale prices or honoring tax-exempt transactions.⁷ Keep a copy at your place of business. New Mexico law requires any registration document the department issues for posting at your premises to reference the requirements of Section 7-1-61 NMSA 1978.¹⁰

If something on your application doesn’t line up — a missing field, a mismatched name, an invalid identification number — a staff member will contact you by mail or phone. Respond promptly. The department may close your file if you don’t resolve the issue within the stated timeframe.

You can reach the department’s main line at 1-866-285-2996 if you have questions during or after registration.⁸

Out-of-State Sellers

Selling into New Mexico from another state can still require a BTIN. Out-of-state sellers must register and collect gross receipts tax once they have at least $100,000 in taxable gross receipts sourced to New Mexico during the previous calendar year, even with no physical presence in the state.¹¹

Marketplace facilitators such as Amazon, Etsy, or eBay that meet the $100,000 threshold collect and remit the tax on behalf of their third-party sellers. If every one of your New Mexico sales runs through a compliant facilitator, you generally don’t need to register separately for those sales. If you also sell through your own website or other direct channels to New Mexico buyers, you are responsible for collecting and remitting on those sales, and that means your own BTIN.¹¹

What Your BTIN Lets You Do Next

One of the first practical uses of a new BTIN is generating Nontaxable Transaction Certificates, or NTTCs. When you buy inventory for resale or make other purchases that qualify for a gross receipts tax exemption, you present an NTTC to the seller so they don’t charge you tax on that transaction.¹²

You create, print, and manage NTTCs through the same TAP account you used to register. The seller keeps the NTTC as documentation that the sale wasn’t subject to gross receipts tax. Without a valid NTTC, the seller is generally required to charge and remit tax on the sale.¹²

1
New Mexico Taxation & Revenue Department. Businesses: Who Must Register a Business?
2
New Mexico Taxation and Revenue Department. Business Tax Registration Application and Update Form ACD-31015
3
New Mexico Legislature. Update on Destination-Based Sourcing in the Gross Receipts Tax
4
U.S. Census Bureau. North American Industry Classification System – NAICS
5
Internal Revenue Service. Get an Employer Identification Number
6
Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form SS-4
7
Taxation and Revenue New Mexico. Online Services
8
New Mexico Taxation and Revenue Department. Contact Information
9
New Mexico Taxation and Revenue Department. FYI-102 Information for New Businesses
10
Justia Law. New Mexico Code 7-1-12 – Identification of Taxpayers, Purchasers, Lessees
11
New Mexico Taxation and Revenue Department. FYI-206 Marketplace Providers and Marketplace Sellers
12
New Mexico Taxation and Revenue Department. Non-Taxable Transaction Certificates (NTTC)