As of this writing in late December, 2014, The Tax Administration System (SAT) certified 2,809 IMMEX companies in Mexico. The certification was a new requirement imposed by Mexico’s Treasury on maquiladoras in order to be tax-exempt from the Value Added and Special Production taxes for their temporary imports in 2015.
Emilio Cadena Rubio, Index president, said this certification process was a success and exporters proved the Federal Government they are working according to law.
He expects at least 3,000 companies will be certified by the end of 2015, while the rest will be buying bonds or canceling their IMMEX permit.
According to Index statistics, another 3,000 companies applied for this certification, but the SAT rejected their applications.
“I believe these companies deserve a second chance if their failures were technical, but they are working according to law,” said Federico Serrano Bañuelos, Index Tijuana president.
He said most of the maquiladoras in the Tijuana area got their certification, while others are waiting for the SAT response.
“The most important maquiladoras in Juarez got their certification,” explained Claudia Troitiño – Gonzalez, Index Juarez president. “At least 67 companies are waiting for a response, but 30 of them are willing to buy bonds.”
The tax reform mandates that in 2015, all the companies that import raw materials into Mexico must pay VAT and IEPS; nevertheless, the maquiladoras that get their certification before the end of the year will get their money back in 10 days.
To get the certification, the companies must show that at least 70 percent of their imported raw material exports in finished goods and have no pending credits with the Mexican Government.
According to the SAT rules, the maquiladoras that applied for this certification have to wait up to 40 working days. If the company has no answer, the certification is automatically denied.
The National Institute of Statistics, Geography and Informatics (INEGI) shows that the maquiladora industry in Ciudad Juarez imports U.S $2.1 billion in raw material every month. Currently and up to the end of 2014, the maquiladoras do not pay taxes for temporary imports.