Grupo Salinas announced that it will resort to international bodies after the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation (SCJN) definitively decided to dismiss the last legal appeals of Grupo Elektra and TV Azteca.
The companies sought to challenge seven tax credits that, together, add up to an original amount of 33,477 million pesos.
“The resolutions issued in this instance force us to resort to other avenues, even at the international level, with the purpose of ensuring the full guarantee and protection of our human rights, demanding the elimination of unconstitutional double charges and disproportionate fines, and displaying before the eyes of the world all the evidence of the systematic political persecution against Mr. Salinas Pliego and the authoritarianism of the misnamed Fourth Transformation,” the group responded through a statement published on its social networks.
Likewise, he pointed out that they continue “waiting for the response from the Tax Administration Service (SAT) to our requests to quantify the amount of our tax credits, in accordance with the law and its own resolutions, without double and illegal charges.”
In the statement, Ricardo Salinas Pliego’s business group pointed out that the highest court’s decision “is a violation of the rule of law by endorsing double charges, which is a warning sign for business confidence and investments in the country.”
“The consequences of these resolutions go far beyond Grupo Salinas and its companies. With them, the spurious Court has legitimized the violation of basic human rights of citizens, workers and companies, endorsing unconstitutional and immoral double charges without any guarantee or real defense.
With this, “a deeply worrying precedent is set and sends a dangerous signal for investments in Mexico: today the rules can change depending on who they apply to. It is a warning sign for job creation and business confidence, which are the true drivers of our country’s prosperity,” he said.
At the same time, he also criticized the judicial reform, arguing that “the ministers who made these decisions were imposed through an authoritarian reform, whose electoral farce — in which less than 8 percent of Mexicans voted — was designed and orchestrated by MORENA and the Federal Executive to eliminate checks and balances, destroy democracy and completely control the Mexican State. They finally achieved it,” he concluded.
More context: SCJN determines that Elektra, a Salinas Pliego company, must pay more than 33,300 million pesos to the SAT
The Court unanimously rejected the protection promoted by the owner of TV Azteca, who sought to reconsider a debt of 33,477 million pesos from Grupo Elektra, corresponding to income tax.
The 33,477 million pesos are the amount of the credits when they were established, adding the omitted ISR, plus fines, updates and surcharges that existed until then, but do not include the accumulated growth in recent years.
With this resolution, the Court validated the position of the SAT, which described the magnate’s objections as unfounded.
The prolonged dispute between Salinas Pliego and the treasury escalated in recent months, becoming a direct clash with President Claudia Sheinbaum, who reiterated that the businessman must comply with his tax obligations.
For his part, Salinas Pliego denounced “political persecution” by the federal government.
Hours before the SCJN ruling, Sheinbaum maintained that the litigation “has nothing to do with politics,” but rather with compliance with the law.
“The one who is politicizing the case is the Salinas group, they are the ones who are politicizing the case, who are victimizing themselves,” said the president during her morning conference this Thursday.
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