By Carolina Rodriguez and Luis G. Reséndiz
On August 5, 2020, Mexico’s Tax Administration Service (SAT) published a microsite stating that companies that have VAT and IEPS certifications must pay fees for such certifications. The microsite contains a full PDF explaining that such fees must be paid retroactively from the date the certification was first obtained. Furthermore, according to such document, these payments must include adjustments for inflation and surcharges for failure to pay prior years.
The microsite includes a simulator to calculate the amounts to be paid retroactively. The amounts in force for each year, subject to adjustments for inflation and surcharges, for the last six years are as follows:
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The legality of these provisions is questionable. SAT is applying provisions from Mexico’s Federal Law of Fees (Ley Federal de Derechos) applicable to the old certified companies, which are now the authorized economic operators (or OEAs for their acronym in Spanish), to the companies that obtained VAT and IEPS certifications. They are different types of certifications, and companies with VAT and IEPS certifications were not expressly required to pay these fees by any law before 2020.
We expect that companies affected by this new requirement may challenge SAT. However, companies with VAT and IEPS certifications must monitor any further developments. If SAT starts enforcing those payments, one mechanism it may try to pressure companies to comply is to suspend or revoke the companies’ VAT and IEPS certifications, which could cause, among other consequences, the obligation to pay VAT on all importations into Mexico.
This article does not constitute legal advice. For specific questions, please consider contacting us.
