The Tax Administration Service (SAT) temporarily lifted the embargo on Alsea’s accounts, after the restaurant operator obtained a resolution from the Federal Court of Administrative Justice (TFJA) to suspend its collection.
Raquel Buenrostro, head of the prosecutorial body, said that while the process that Alsea filed with the Court begins, they remain in a suspension of action. “The court orders a temporary suspension of collection while the resolution is determined or made. So, while the court decides, we are in a suspension of action, “he said during the morning conference of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador.
Alsea, which owns Starbucks and Domino’s Pizza in Mexico, filed an exclusive substantive resolution trial to challenge the payment of a tax credit for 3,881 million pesos, which the tax authority imposed on it derived from the purchase of Vips, in 2014 .
“Alsea, like any other taxpayer, has the right to file defense measures in case it considers that the authority did not correctly determine the credit. He went to court to say that he did not agree with the determination of the credit and right now it is being litigated, “said Buenrostro.
In general terms, when a company is facing the collection of a tax credit, the first step is the suspension of the execution, which allows the Court to take the necessary time to study the file before issuing a final resolution, while the company guarantees the amount of the tax credit, which can be through a bonding company.
In general, in this type of dispute between legal entities and the tax authority, there are three possible scenarios: plain nullity, which completely annuls the tax credit; nullity for effects, in which the authority determines that the debt is less and instructs the treasury to carry out a new calculation under certain parameters, and, finally, that the authority declares the firmness of the fiscal credit.
Even in the last scenario, companies can resort to an appeal before a Collegiate Court in Administrative Matters, which is in charge of analyzing the actions of the TFJA, the SAT and the legal person, that is, the company.
Large taxpayers pay the SAT
With the beginning of the administration of President Andrés Manuel López Orbador, there was a list of tax debtors, who were large taxpayers. In this regard, the head of the SAT declared that from that list “practically everyone paid and those who did not pay are already in other administrative processes.
This is the case of Grupo Salinas, the conglomerate that groups the Elektra, Banco Azteca and Televisión Azteca stores, which maintains a dispute with the authorities over the debt of nearly 40,000 million pesos to the treasury.
Another case is that of Walmart, which in May 2020 Walmart agreed to pay 8,079 million pesos for the sale of Vips, when the authority demanded the payment of 10,559 million pesos, an amount that considered taxes, fines, surcharges and updating.
