Updated September 4, 2026. Quick answer: New Mexico’s $50-a-year corporate franchise tax applies to an S-corp because it is legally a corporation. A plain LLC or partnership never sees this line.
Does this state require its own election
No separate New Mexico filing exists to obtain S-corp status; the federal election controls. New Mexico’s own pass-through-entity guidance ties filing status to the federal election with no separate state election step described.
“The federal return that a pass-through entity is required or elects to file determines the New Mexico income tax return [the entity must file].”
New Mexico Taxation and Revenue Department
What it costs at the entity level
New Mexico’s Franchise Tax, reported on Form CIT-1, is a flat annual fee on every domestic and foreign corporation including S-corps; a default LLC or partnership that has not elected corporate tax treatment is not a ‘corporation’ for this purpose and owes nothing.
| What New Mexico charges | Figure |
|---|---|
| Rate | Flat $50 per year |
| Minimum | $50 flat, regardless of income or size |
“every domestic and foreign corporation, including S corporations, that either engages in business in New Mexico or exercises its corporate franchise in this state [must report] the $50 annual Franchise Tax.”
New Mexico Taxation and Revenue Department, Corporate Income and Franchise Tax overview
The comparison against a plain LLC
It is a small number, $50, but it is unconditional and tied purely to being a corporation rather than an LLC, plus its own CIT-1 filing an LLC never has to make.
What this does not model
No federal tax modelling is repeated here; see the federal S-corp election calculator for the payroll-tax and QBI mechanics this page assumes but does not recompute. No personal New Mexico income tax on the pass-through income itself is modelled either.
Sources
Every figure on this page is read from the text quoted above, fetched directly from the state’s own site or code, as read on September 4, 2026.
| What it establishes | Source |
|---|---|
| Whether New Mexico requires its own S-corp election | New Mexico Taxation and Revenue Department |
| What New Mexico charges an S-corp at the entity level | New Mexico Taxation and Revenue Department, Corporate Income and Franchise Tax overview |
General consumer information, not financial, tax or legal advice. State rules are as published by the cited source on September 4, 2026 and change; your own facts govern, and an S-corporation election is a decision to take with a tax professional who has seen your books.