Consequences of not issuing digital tax receipts correctly

The Mexican Tax Administration Service (SAT) is currently carrying out inspections based on the issuance and reception of digital tax receipts (CFDIs) in order to verify the correct payment of taxes with regards to withholdings.

Derived from the above, the SAT has been sending out e-mails en masse to taxpayers inviting them to correct their tax position, in which they are asked to check their information and regularize said position, based on the detection of supposed differences between the amounts declared and paid as withholdings and the statements made in the valid CFDIs received with the PUE (payment in a single exhibition) method of payment.

Such invitations indicate that, according to the information in the SAT’s databases, the examination of withholdings is carried out based on the CFDIs of payment in a single exhibition that, according to the applicable tax provisions, should have been paid in the same month in which they were issued.

Furthermore, they indicate that the noncompliance of such withholdings may lead to taxpayers being subject to the restriction of their Digital Seal Certificate and, if applicable, fines for violations of tax provisions.

It should be mentioned that, as indicated by section VII of Article 17-H Bis of the Federal Tax Code (CCF), the detection of that the tax withheld by the taxpayer, stated on the final tax withholdings payments returns, does not coincide with the value of the acts or activities indicated in the online digital tax receipts, their complements of payment or bank account statements, files, documents or databases kept by the tax authorities or which they have in their possession or have access to, shall be grounds for the temporary restriction of the digital seal certificates (CSD).

We have currently observed that due to different factors, such as a large volume of transactions with individuals, a lack of policies and procedures for payments to suppliers or service providers, that temporary differences appear in the payment of the withholdings stated in the CFDIs, i.e., in most cases when a CFDI is received with a PUE method of payment, it is not paid in the same month in which the CFDI was issued and, therefore, a difference is generated between the amounts stated in the CFDIs and the amounts declared in the final payments for withholdings.

In those cases in which the transaction is not paid in a single exhibition or, when it is paid in a single exhibition and such payment is not made in the same month in which the CFDI is issued, the supplier must be asked to issue the CFDI with the PPD (installment or deferred payment) method of payment, in accordance with paragraph b) of section VII of Article 29-A of the CCF.

In virtue of the above, and in order to mitigate any fiscal contingency, our recommendation is that when this type of invitation is received from the tax authority, you should carefully examine the detected differences and reply to these invitations as soon as possible and, if applicable, clarify that they correspond to temporary differences due to the time of payment of the CFDIs or, if in effect differences exist in the payment of withholdings, then you should file the corresponding complementary tax returns, as well as establishing a robust internal policy for payment of suppliers.

Lastly, the e-mails received with these invitations do not imply an obligation for the taxpayer or the use of the powers of verification of the tax authority, although the failure to reply to them could be a factor used as a basis by the authority to start another audit process, or, as indicated in the invitation, for the temporary restriction of the CSD, i.e., the inability to issue CFDIs, which may hinder the operation of the business.

As always, Mazars is ready to aid you in this process and help you to reply to these invitations and avoid the possible restriction of your CSD or the imposition of fines by the tax authority.