Mexico: Whether Mexico has a system for calculating and submitting income tax similar to Canada's, particularly whether taxpayers receive income statements and submit returns yearly

Mexico has a complex taxation system that includes similarities to the Canadian taxation system. The information that follows provides an unofficial translation of some Mexican taxation terms that are not necessarily equivalent to Canadian taxation terms, and are provided in this Response to Information Request as a reference.

The information provided below is general and might not apply in every circumstance alluded to in this text. General and case-specific information in Spanish on the Mexican taxation system can be found in the Internet website of the Tax Administration Service (Servicio de Administración Tributaria, SAT) of the Finance and Public Credit Secretariat of the Federal Government of Mexico, at .

A sub-directory of the SAT website provides an overview of the various categories of taxpaying individuals (personas físicas), as opposed to legal "persons" or entities (personas morales), and their particular obligations, as follows (SAT 7 Apr. 1999).

For individuals, there are six categories for which they can register and file returns: salary and wage earners (sueldos y salarios), contract or professional services income (honorarios), rental income (arrendamiento), simplified system (régimen simplificado, for specific registered persons), business activities (actividad empresarial), and small contributors (pequeños contribuyentes, aimed at street vendors, very small businesses, rural population and others traditionally outside the mainstream taxation system).

Of these categories, only the salary and wage earners are required to file a single yearly tax return, between 1 February and 30 April of each year. However, the employer must register employees with the SAT and retain from their paycheques a number of tax deductions (pagos provisionales) throughout the year. The employer issues a statement of deductions (constancia de percepciones y retenciones, formato No. 37), which lists also the individual's income, taxable amounts, and other information. The individual must submit with his yearly return, in addition to this statement, any invoices or receipts that could apply to personal credits or deductions, and Official Form No. 8 (formulario fiscal No. 8) in duplicate.

Other individual taxpayer categories must submit quarterly returns, except for the business activities category which must submit monthly returns by the 17th day of the month after the one in question, and the small contributors, who must submit returns every six months, retain employee deductions, and submit quarterly payment of value-added tax on their sales and services (impuesto al valor agregado, similar to the Canadian Goods and Services Tax).

Each taxpayer category has specific requirements for providing or keeping invoices and receipts for earnings and expenses, and different personal or business deductions.

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Please find below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this information request.

Reference

Servicio de Adiministración Tributaria (SAT), Mexico City. 7 April 1999. "Obligaciones de los Contribuyentes (Personas Físicas)." [Internet] [Accessed 14 Apr. 1999]

Additional Sources Consulted

Embassy of Mexico, Ottawa.

Electronic Sources: IRB Databases, Internet, REFWORLD.

Note:

        This list is not exhaustive. It does not include country-specific documents available in the Resource Centre.