1. The Tax Miscellany 2022 will allow the SAT to monitor donation schemes

The Head of the Tax Administration Service (SAT), Raquel Buenrostro Sanchez, affirmed that she will thoroughly review the use of deductions for donations, because some family foundations, whose main donations come from seven people, donated money to their own foundations to deduct Income Tax (ISR). According to Sanchez, these companies made deductions for up to MXN $350 million pesos that they allocated to their foundations, and that there are even 50 other people with millionaire donations.

The official recalled that 84% of the donations are made by legal entities, and that in that sense there will be no changes to the law; under these conditions, this percentage of donations are guaranteed. In addition, she affirmed that the core problem is those who make the donation, because there are individuals who deduct more than they donate, so the changes will limit donations under a stricter scheme.

El Economista: SAT va contra los abusos en el uso de deducciones, aclara Raquel Buenrostro y Senadores, sin mover una coma, aprueban la Miscelánea Fiscal 2022.

2. Airlines evaluate profitability at Santa Lucia Airport

Enrique Beltranena, CEO of Volaris, informed their decision to fly from the Felipe Angeles International Airport (AIFA) in Santa Lucia is a business strategy with long-term profitability. The airline considers a potential market of 4.8 million passengers, of which they expect to mobilize 250,000 in the first year of operations. Furthermore, another airline that plans to operate next year is Viva Aerobus, specifically for domestic flights.

In this sense, the federal government maintains its proposal to provide incentives and lower costs to airlines operating in Saint Lucia; there will be an Airport Use Fee (TUA) of MXN $120 pesos per passenger, a figure that is 3.7 times cheaper compared to the Mexico City International Airport (AICM) fee. Likewise, Volaris revealed that the cost structure of the airport in Santa Lucia will be lower, considering operation costs, air navigation, and gates usage.

El Financiero: Será más barato para aerolíneas volar en Santa Lucía que en AICM, asegura Volaris y ‘Promo’ de la 4T: TUA de Santa Lucía será de 120 pesos; 4 veces más barata que la del AICM.
Expansión: Viva Aerobús confirma su operación en Santa Lucía para vuelos nacionales.

3. National consumption maintains a downward trend

Among the largest economies in Latin America, Mexico is the second lagging country in terms of private consumption reactivation. During the first semester of 2021, the consumption indicator decreased 4% in the country compared to the first semester of 2019. Apart from Mexico, most Latin American countries are known for having channeled fiscal and monetary stimuli to cushion the drop in aggregate demand and supply and accelerate its economic reactivation.

According to data from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and Moody’s, Brazil, Chile, and Peru have taken measures that have costed more than 10 percentage points of GDP. As for the Mexican government, it has relied on the effects of the stimulus programs implemented by the United States, which have generated economic spillovers into Mexico towards the gradual recovery process

El Economista: México se rezaga en reactivación del consumo en América Latina.

4. The SCJN invalidates the informal preventive detention for tax crimes

The Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation (SCJN) invalidated the ex officio preventive detention for those who commit tax crimes such as fraud or billing of simulated operations. The ministers analyzed the unconstitutionality actions presented by opposition senators and the National Human Rights Commission (CNDH), against the decree of November 8, 2019.

A majority of eight ministers considered that the Legislative Power exceeded its faculties when it extended preventive detention to crimes not contemplated in Article 19 of the Constitution. The Minister President Arturo Zaldívar stressed that the informal preventive detention violates the principle of innocence presumption. The challenge for some authorities, like the Attorney General’s Office (FGR), now lies both in proving a crime or not and proving whether the person could flee.

El Universal: La Corte invalida prisión preventiva en delitos federales.
El Economista: Decisión de la SCJN en fraude fiscal, no quita poder a la FGR.

5. Mexico and its environmental commitments towards COP-26

At the next Conference of the Parties (COP-26), which will take place from October 31 in Glasgow, Scotland, Mexico will reach the climate summit with a setback in its environmental agenda, in the absence of proposals from the federal administration to address climate change. The meeting will discuss current policies by short term vision, to generate a commitment to reduce fossil fuels, mitigate greenhouse gases, and achieve a transition towards a model free of oil and other fuels usage.

Five years after the entry into force of the Paris Agreement in Mexico, the outlook of the country is uncertain in the face of an eventual energy reform that favours fossil fuels over renewables, as well as a monopolization of the supply of electricity. At the COP-26 climate summit, the government will ask for a funding model to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 22% and black carbon use by 51% by 2030.

El Economista: Lo que se juega en la COP26: estar vivos o ser ricos. No hay plan B.
Forbes: México pedirá en COP26 mayor financiación contra crisis climática.