I'm not sure what to put into the Tax and Interest Deduction Worksheet

[DoctorWho]

Last week I asked a question about Sales tax entry, which I've gotten a good answer for and have been able to move on. Now I am in the review of my federal income tax. It caught a problem which I need to enter more data for. The page is titled, "Check This Entry". It is in the Tax and Interest Deduction Worksheet. It says, "Total state and local sales tax rate must be entered." Then there's a textbox for me to enter something. The textbox is currently blank. So, in some ways this is similar to the previous question I asked, but in this case, it is related to the state I live in, which is New Mexico. I really don't know what I should put here. As before, I expected TurboTax to have populated this for me, but as before it didn't. So, how do I proceed?

[DawnC · Accepted solution]

It wants you to add the state and local tax rates for New Mexico.   So, enter NM for New Mexico.   Enter the combined total state and local sales tax rate you paid while living in NM. This number should be a percentage and a combined total of the two tax rates (state and local).   TurboTax will fill in the Local Rate once you enter the total rate.   

For example:  Your state sales tax rate is 4.875% and if your local sales tax rate is 2%, enter 6.875%.   Your local tax rate, if any, depends on where in NM you live.   New Mexico has 33 counties and many more municipalities as political subdivisions within the state.    You can check a store receipt to find the total sales tax charged.   Or use this tool >> Location Code and Tax Rate Map for NM

[DoctorWho]

DawnC,

Thank you for your answer! It is now making sense to me. However, the link you pointed me to was for NM's Gross Receipts Tax and I can find all of the Gross Receipts Tax for all the counties of NM. But, as I understand it, Gross Receipts Tax and Sales tax are not the same thing. Or at least not necessarily the same thing. I did try searching for NM Sales tax but kept getting links to NM Gross Receipts Tax. Am I looking in the wrong place? Or do I use the NM Gross Receipts Tax?

[DawnC]

You can use the Gross Receipts rate.   New Mexico doesn't have a traditional sales tax.   Instead, they use Gross Receipts but it works the same as sales tax for tax purposes.   So, you are in the right spot!  

[DoctorWho]

Hi DawnC,

I found a receipt from our local Walmart from last year. That answers my question.

Thank you so much for your help!!