Administrative regulations for compliance with tax obligations on local contributions.
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General Background
As a consequence of the health contingency caused by the coronavirus (COVID-19) and to protect the health and integrity of the general population, governments have granted some administrative regulations with the purpose of (i) mitigating the propagation of the virus mentioned above; (ii) easing the compliance with tax obligations, and (iii) counteracting the negative effect on the taxpayers' economy.
Additionally, the different governments have seen the need to contemplate support plans whose goal will be to assist specific sectors of the population economically.
Likewise, the Taxpayer Defense Attorney's Office (PRODECON) has made a series of recommendations to the Tax Administration Service (SAT) for the benefit of taxpayers in the face of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
Administrative Regulations
Mexico City
On March 20, 2020, the "Agreement by which the terms and deadlines inherent to administrative procedures are suspended and administrative regulations for the compliance with tax obligations to prevent the dissemination of the COVID-19 virus", was published in Mexico City's Official Gazette, in force as of March 23, 2020. This agreement states that the days between March 23 and April 19, 2020, will be considered as non-working days, so that the terms for the governmental actions of the Local Public Administration will change based on the following terms:
1. The deadlines for filing returns and making payments that must be done during the month of April 2020 in accordance with the provisions of the Mexico City Tax Code, are extended and can be maintained until April 30, same year.
However, all the electronic payment means implemented by the Administration and Finance Secretariat of Mexico City's Government will remain in operation.
2. In the case of the Vehicle Use or Ownership Tax, the deadline for obtaining the corresponding subsidy is extended until April 30, 2020.
3. Terms and deadlines for the practice of tax proceedings are suspended, such as initiation, substantiation, notifications, summons, requirements, agreements, proceedings, resolutions, non-compliance appeals, revocation, or other means of defense and other acts.
4. The following procedures are suspended: reception of documents, verification visits, customer service at the window, requests for reports or documents, as well as any administrative action that affects the legal sphere of individuals.
5. The terms and deadlines for receiving the registration, processing, response, and notification of requests for access to public information and personal data are suspended.
6. Any action, promotion, or request made to Mexico City's Public Administration or in the Municipalities will take effect until April 20, 2020.
It should be noted that this will not be applicable in the case of procedures in the urban development, construction and real estate sectors, as well as those required for the granting of instruments related to real estate before public notaries.
Jalisco
The reform to the state income law was published in the Official Gazette of the State of Jalisco on March 20, 2020, to extend the term for the payment of the vehicle property tax until May 31, 2020, and grant a discount of 5% to those who make the payment online during the months of April and May 2020.
Nuevo León
For their part, the government of Nuevo León published on March 20, 2020, in the Official Gazette of the State, the "General Agreement of the Secretariat of Finance and General Treasury of the state of Nuevo León, which determines that in the period from March 17 to April 20, 2020, the legal deadlines are extended for enforcement and collection actions", aiming to avoid the dissemination of coronavirus (COVID-19).
Therefore, in the period from March 17 to April 20, 2020, the legal deadlines are extended to:
1. Attend to information requests made by the supervisory authorities, whether within or outside the exercise of powers of verification or collection of the different Administrative Units of inspection and collection that are integrated into the State's Finance and General Treasury Secretariat; and
2. The filing of administrative appeals.
Morelos
The Mobility and Transport Secretariat reported on their website that an extension would be granted for the payment of the vehicle property tax until June 30, 2020.
Hidalgo
On March 17, 2020, the "Agreement that expands the Vehicle Control Program called Safe Vehicle Property tax" was published in the Official Gazette of the State of Hidalgo, in which a new period for the payment of vehicle property tax is established from May 1 to September 30, 2020. This agreement will come into force on May 1, 2020.
Puebla
The government of the state of Puebla published on March 18, through its website, that the deadline to make the payment of vehicle control will be extended until May 31, 2020, and the start of car plates replacement until June 2020.
Tlaxcala
For its part, the state's Planning and Finance Secretariat published on their website that both the deadline for the exchange of car plates and vehicle property tax is moved to June 30, 2020.
Chihuahua
Also, the state of Chihuahua published the specific measures they will take regarding the COVID-19 pandemic in the ACUERDO 049/2020 (in Spanish), page 1671.
Economic Support
Jalisco
On March 24, 2020 (date on which it came into force) the Official Gazette of the state of Jalisco published the "Agreement of the constitutional citizen governor of the Free and Sovereign State of Jalisco" by which the Jalisco COVID-19 plan is created, aiming to provide financial support to people affected by the preventive and containment measures adopted due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The agreement foresees the creation of the Jalisco Plan whose objective is to provide economic support to people with informal economic activities, in a scenario of self-employment or underemployed; to micro and small companies; as well as for corn producers in the amount of MXN $ 1,000,000,000.00 (one billion pesos)
PRODECON Recommendations
PRODECON, on March 24, 2020, launched a campaign for individual persons to "Declare at home," which consists of making remote assistant services available to taxpayers such as online chat, email, and telephone to reduce the influx of taxpayers in search of assistance to their offices helping them to comply with the obligation to file their annual return correctly.
Likewise, in response to the ombudsman's efforts and due to the health emergency, the SAT has implemented support mechanisms for taxpayers to return the balances in favor of the Income Tax (ISR) manifested in their annual return of the tax year 2019, within three days from the date of its presentation.
In addition to the above, PRODECON has suggested that the SAT take the following measures (which the tax authority has not commented on yet):
1. Extend the deadline to file the natural persons' and legal entities' returns to July 31, 2020.
2. Allowing legal entities to pay their income tax in charge in the annual tax return of the tax year 2019 in up to six installments, without having to request any authorizations and without guaranteeing the amount of the tax.
3. In the case of natural persons, extend the term to request a refund of the balance in favor of ISR manifested in the annual statement for the 2019 financial year through the Automatic Return System, until December 31, 2020.
4. Defer the filing of provisional payments corresponding to the months of March, April, and May 2020, both for natural persons and legal entities to July 31, 2020.
5. Suspend the deadlines for filing the revocation appeal.
Final comments
Due to the health contingency affecting Mexico and the world, an enormous amount of information circulates in several media; therefore, we recommend verifying sources and consulting experts in the field before making any decisions.
If you require additional information regarding this newsletter, do not hesitate to contact our professionals.
