Ealey v. Bureau of Revenue

This case began in the form of an informal protest made on July 23, 1974 by the appellant of a denial of a claim for refund of taxes assessed against taxpayer on gross receipts derived from the transmission of interstate telegraphic messages. A formal hearing was held on March 14, 1975 on the same challenge by appellant. The Bureau then denied appellants request for a refund of gross receipts taxes paid to the State of New Mexico. In its decision the Court of Appeals in a two-to-one decision, with three separate opinions, concluded the issue in favor of the taxpayer. Ealey v. Bureau of Revenue, 89 N.M. 174, 548 P.2d 454 (Ct. App.1976). The petition for writ of certiorari filed by the Attorney General on behalf of the Bureau of Revenue raised the theory that all of the opinions of the Court of Appeals in this one case would support affirmance of the Bureaus actions and that there is no majority opinion which could support reversal based on the legal and factual issues raised. Furthermore, the Court of Appeals did not make clear whether appellants transmission of purely intrastate messages constitutes a taxable local incident or not. Because these and other questions were raised, we feel it our obligation to clarify the matter.