No more corporate tax breaks in Mexico

Today, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador announced his government will order an end to tax breaks for the country’s largest companies, saying USD $20 billion in exemptions given by his predecessors was akin to theft by gangsters.

During the two previous administrations, many firms, at least 58 are listed on the stock exchange, benefited from tax breaks totaling more than MXN $400 billion , said Mexico ’s tax chief Margarita Rios-Farjat at the President ’s regular news conference.

Nearly a third of the companies listed on the benchmark S&P/BMV IPC received tax breaks , she said.

López Obrador

did not reveal the name of the companies.

“It’s like white collar fuel theft ,” López Obrador said, referring to the widespread fuel theft from pipelines by organized crime that his government has tried to crack down on.

“This mechanism has been abused and it will be eliminated ,” López Obrador said.

The President said that the order aims to end with tax privileges and enforce the Constitution : “Those who obtain more resources have to contribute more, in this case, on the contrary, some of the high-ranking (people), didn't pay taxes or they were returned to them, that ends today.”

Mexico to tackle tax evasion

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