Gross receipts tax
Yes, both kinds. Residential and commercial cleaning are subject to New Mexico's gross receipts tax, which is the statewide tax that applies here rather than a sales tax. The tax is imposed on the business, though businesses often pass it on to customers. Receipts from services sold for resale can be deducted, which matters for subcontracted cleaning.
If you went looking for New Mexico's sales tax rule on cleaning, you probably found a tax with a different name. Gross receipts tax lands on the business that receives the money, not on the customer, and the rate isn't one number across the state. This page walks through residential cleaning, commercial cleaning, the conditions that change the picture, and how I keep it straight in the books.
Cleaning homes is taxable under the gross receipts tax. The Taxation and Revenue Department's FYI-105 overview (revised July 1, 2024) explains the tax and doesn't list any exemption specific to cleaning, residential or otherwise.
Commercial cleaning is taxable as well. The department's Decision and Order 99-02, Maintenance Service Systems, Inc. (January 21, 1999), addresses commercial cleaning. Same tax, same location-based rate, whether the client is a household or a business.
Exception: receipts from services sold for resale can be deducted under Section 7-9-48, which matters for subcontracted cleaning.
Three things change in the setup. Gross receipts tax goes in a liability account, separate from income, because it's owed by the business no matter how the invoice reads. Each job carries its location, since the rate depends on it. And receipts from subcontracted work stay apart from work your own crews do, so that when your CPA looks at the resale deduction I can show where every single dollar of those receipts came from. If past months were booked without any of that split out, a cleanup sorts it.
The rest of what changes for a cleaning company in the state, from the ABC test to the $12.00 minimum wage, is on my New Mexico page.
I'm a bookkeeper, not a CPA or an Enrolled Agent. I can explain what the rule says and keep your receipts sorted so the numbers are ready. Whether the resale deduction applies to your receipts, and how the tax is reported, belongs with your CPA.
Rules checked against the sources above as of October 20, 2026. Rates and rules change; confirm current figures with the agency or your CPA.
About Figure Eight Financial
Figure Eight Financial is Dave Gordon’s bookkeeping practice for residential and commercial cleaning companies. I work with owners in New Mexico and across the country, and I’m a Certified QuickBooks Online ProAdvisor.
Before bookkeeping I studied computer science at Penn State and spent a career at IBM as an engineer, so I build the books as a system: data comes in once, lands in the right place, and ties back to a statement. I’m a bookkeeper, not a CPA or Enrolled Agent. I keep the books your CPA works from, and the tax decisions stay with your CPA.
Credentials and memberships reported by Figure Eight Financial.
More about DaveHow I Help
Gross receipts tax is imposed on the business no matter how the invoice reads, so it goes in a liability account and never blends into revenue. Each job carries its location, since the rate is location-based, and subcontracted receipts stay apart from your own crews' work so your CPA can see which receipts the resale deduction could apply to. Set up a short call below and tell me how you invoice today.
The core service. Transactions recorded and categorized, every account reconciled so the books and the bank agree, and monthly reports that arrive explained, split by residential and commercial and sliceable per contract.
The full picture of how this works for a cleaning companyFor the months where nothing got entered at all. I fill in the missing periods from the ground up, pulling bank feeds, statements, and receipts until every month has a complete set of records.
How catch-up bookkeeping worksFor books that exist but can’t be trusted. I audit what’s there, fix the unreconciled accounts, duplicate transactions, and wrong categories, and tie every balance back to a statement.
How cleanup bookkeeping worksYour crews paid on time, every pay period, with each payroll run recorded in the books so labor shows up against the jobs it belongs to.
How payroll worksRecurring invoices that match your contracts, an aging report you can trust, and follow-up on slow payers handled by a process instead of your evenings. Built for net-60 commercial accounts.
How invoicing and receivables workA file built right for a cleaning company from day one, or rebuilt after the DIY version drifts, and then I teach you to run it. I’m a Certified QuickBooks Online ProAdvisor, and this is honestly my favorite part of the job.
How a proper setup worksWe start with a short call about your business and where the books stand. The first conversation doesn’t cost anything.
I take a look at what you’ve got, your QuickBooks file, your spreadsheet, whatever exists.
You get a written proposal with the price, so the decision is yours with the number in hand.
Let's Connect
If gross receipts tax is a blur in your books right now, tell me how you invoice today. We'll figure out the setup from there, and the first conversation doesn't cost anything.
