Court Case: United States v. New Mexico

Question 1

What parties were involved in the case?

Answer 1

• Government Contractors
• NM DOR
• US Supereme Court

Question 2

What year did the case take place in?

Answer 2

1982

Question 3

What were the facts of the case?

Answer 3

• Contractors that were hired by the US government were working on facility jobs in NM and purchased items to perform the work
• The invoices were addressed to the contractors, not the US gov.
• NM imposed a gross receipts tax on the revenue that the contractor’s made

Question 4

What was the court’s decision in the case?

Answer 4

The tax was approved since it technically wasn’t imposed on the US government (US gov. is an exempt entity)

Question 5

Which tax concept was at the forefront of the case?

Answer 5

Supremacy clause

Question 6

The Supremacy Clause only protects the federal government from taxation, it doesn’t protect the government’s….

Answer 6

contractor’s