The Senate, a circus in evening dress
In a show that mixes legal drama with absurd comedy, the Senate Plenary Session achieved the unthinkable: approving a reform and closing the session in the same act, as if it were a failed magic trick where the rabbit escapes and takes the hat. The jewel in the crown is a modification to the Federal Law of Contentious Administrative Procedure that, in Christian terms, gives the Tax Administration System (SAT) a new toy: the right to challenge judicial decisions that it does not like. Does it sound like the referee can now kick penalties? Well something like that.
The session, of course, was a paragon of legislative efficiency. After the general approval, the opposition, in an outburst of parliamentary creativity, decided to “blow up” the act when realizing that the ruling party did not have a quorum. They left with the elegance of a child who takes his ball because they don’t let him be a goalkeeper. The acting president, Verónica Camino, was not deterred and, in a turn worthy of a soap opera, called a new session for the same night. Because nothing solves a conflict like more of the same, but later.
Citizen benefit or “fiscal terrorism”?
The opposition senators, turned into prophets of fiscal disaster, painted an apocalyptic panorama. Javier Corral Jurado tried to sell the reform as a mechanism to speed up procedures and meet deadlines. Marvelous! Because if there is something that the average citizen longs for, it is generic deadlines of five days more in their procedures with the Federal Court of Administrative Justice. Efficiency made law.
But the opposition did not buy the story. Ricardo Anaya of the PAN called it “fiscal terrorism”, a perhaps exaggerated analogy, but one that sells more than “boring procedural modification.” His example was graphic: you win a lawsuit to unfreeze your accounts, but the SAT, like a child with a new red button, appeals. Your funds are still in cryogenic limbo. Alejandro Moreno of the PRI added his touch: if you ask for a VAT refund, prepare for a dozen audits as a surprise gift. A disincentive so effective that even a masochist would think twice.
The PAN member Guadalupe Murguía and Luis Donaldo Colosio of the Citizen Movement closed the chorus of complaints, warning about the legal uncertainty and the infinite lengthening of the lawsuits. Basically, they transform a trial into an endless saga, the “Star Wars” of administrative litigation, where the taxpayer is the defenseless Ewok.
The big play: winning by losing the quorum
The final act was one of pure political calculation. The initiative passed with 64 votes in favor against 33 against. But by voting for a reservation, the opposition made its master move: they realized that Morena and her allies were alone in the ring. Solution? Leave the chamber and leave the session without a quorum. A strategy as old as politics itself, but always effective for a cliffhanger. The reform is approved, but the function had a forced intermission. Who said democracy is not entertaining?
In summary, what we have is a regulation that, according to its critics, gives the treasury an extra means of challenge, a “little protection” to continue fighting even when it has lost. An empowerment of the tax authority that, for the average citizen, translates into more bureaucracy, more waiting and the feeling that, in this game, the SAT always has a card up its sleeve.
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