Mexico’s Supreme Court rules against magnate’s $2.6B tax debt challenges
MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico’s Supreme Court on Thursday rejected legal action challenging companies in the conglomerate led by one of the country’s richest men that owe more than $2.6 billion in taxes.
The court ruled against seven of the nine legal remedies similar to the injunction called “amparos” filed by various companies of Ricardo Salinas Pliego. He hasn’t decided on the other two yet. The debts date back more than a decade.
The decisions cannot be appealed, but umbrella holding Grupo Salinas and Mexico’s tax agency could negotiate a deal. But that could be complicated, as Salinas insists he was targeted for his criticism of the current administration.
Salinas, a television, retail and banking mogul, is one of the current administration’s most outspoken critics.
The government also this week separately suspended two casinos owned by Grupo Salinas companies over money laundering allegations, which Grupo Salinas denied.
Following Thursday’s ruling, Grupo Salinas said it did not rule out appealing to other international courts to avoid “malicious and unlawful double accusations.”
President Claudia Sheinbaum’s administration has emphasized ensuring that Mexico’s largest tax debtors pay their dues, and her party recently reformed the amparo law to make it harder for debtors to delay tax payments.
This is also a new Supreme Court with justices elected by voters for the first time. This was part of a controversial reform opposed by opposition political parties and criticized by the United States. Many of the judges who won the election are thought to have ties to the ruling party.
But Sheinbaum tried to interrupt this discussion. When the total of Salinas’ tax debts became known in late September, the president said “debts are not politicized, they are paid, it’s that simple.”
He then said that if Salinas decided to pay it then, he would be eligible for the same potential deductions as other delinquent taxpayers. “But he has to decide to pay,” he said.
Grupo Salinas alleges that the tax authority did not tell them the exact amounts due and that at various times the authorities failed to comply with agreements they had reached.
On Thursday, Grupo Salinas said via X that “today is a dark day for justice and the rule of law in Mexico,” adding that the court was acting “in the service of political power, not justice.”
