The tycoon, the SAT and selective memory
It seems that tax season has become the new corporate soap opera drama, and Grupo Salinas has just raised the ratings by announcing, with a solemnity that almost makes us cry, its willingness to pay what it owes. How generous! The company owned by the always controversial Ricardo Salinas Pliego not only reiterated its intention to settle its pending debts with the Tax Administration System (SAT), but also came up with the star argument: there was an agreement with the administration of former president Andrés Manuel López Obrador. Because, of course, in this country important fiscal pacts are sealed with a handshake and not with something as mundane as a signed contract.
The firm declared, in a statement that smells of corporate mothballs, the following: “having shaken hands is more valid than a signed piece of paper.” One can’t help but wonder if this philosophy of trust also applies when a client owes them money, or if it is an exclusivity to dealing with the treasury. Should the SAT start accepting promises about a bottle of tequila instead of legal documents? The idea, without a doubt, would revolutionize fundraising.
When the dialogue ends, the international courts arrive
Faced with what they call, with a touch of Shakespearean drama, a “systematic persecution”, the next move by Grupo Salinas was to announce that it will go to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. Because what better place to resolve a tax dispute than a human rights court? The decision came in response to the statements made by Arturo Medina Padilla, Undersecretary of Human Rights, and Grisel Galeano García, the Fiscal Attorney of the Federation, during the now traditional morning conference. The company, with the patience of a saint, once again explained that it is willing to pay, but only what the SAT resolutions and the court rulings dictate, which – oh, coincidence – establish that double charging is not applicable.
To demonstrate their good faith (that which is worth more than a piece of paper), our companies sent letters to the SAT requesting the adjustment of tax credits and the construction of a space for dialogue. One imagines this space for dialogue as a round table where, instead of swords, invoices and accounting calculations are crossed.
The attorney, prejudice and the right to… not pay twice?
The company expressed its “concern” – read: its deep anger – because, from the highest tribune in the country, the Tax Attorney dared to disqualify its sacred right to access justice. And what is worse, instruct the SAT to deny them the constitutional right to petition! The scandal is huge. Here we thought that the right to petition was for ordinary citizens who seek answers from the government, not for large corporations that discuss million-dollar amounts. How much we learn every day.
As a finishing touch, Grupo Salinas added, with a touch of melancholy, that they just want to “turn the page” to continue building value and inclusive prosperity for Mexico. A noble cause, without a doubt, supported by its more than 180 thousand employees and their families, and its more than 35 million clients. It’s almost moving. One almost forgets that the central debate is about the payment of tax obligations and not about a social responsibility campaign. In this great spectacle, accounts payable become a matter of principles, the tax authority becomes a persecutory villain, and a possible international legal conflict in the next chapter of this saga that we could title “The SAT strikes back.”
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