After having studied in a general way the provisions on customs matters in Customs Regulation in Mexico, now it’s time to go a step further and study in a particular way the most important institutions of Mexican Customs Law, such as the different customs regimes, rates, their contributions and the verification powers of the customs authority.

In this case, and following the order of customs regulations, it is time to delve into the general compensations that taxpayers and third parties in solidarity must make in dealing with customs matters, such as compensatory quotas, non-tariff restrictions, duties, and taxes. Issues that I will be analyzing in this and subsequent entries.

Without further delay, let’s begin:

List of Contents

• 1)Taxpayers and Other Responsible Parties
• A) Obligation of Public Bodies to Pay
• B) Jointly Responsible For Payment
• C) Responsibility For the Accuracy of Information
• D) Exceptions
• 2) Estimation of the Consideration
• A) Determination in the Case of Reshipment of Goods
• 3) Obligations of Those Who Introduce Or Extract Goods
• A) Introduction or Extraction of Goods Without a Customs Agent
• 4) Assignment of Goods and Exemptions
• A) Assignment of Goods As a General Rule
• B) Exemptions
• C) Requirements For Importing Household Goods
• D) Prohibition of Sale of Exempt Goods

1) Taxpayers and Other Responsible Parties

Persons who introduce goods into or extract from the national territory, including those under a tariff refund or deferral program in the cases provided for in articles 63-A^[1], 108, section III^[2] and 110^[3] of this Customs Law, are obliged to pay foreign trade taxes and to comply with non-tariff regulations and restrictions and other foreign trade regulation measures.

A) Obligation of Public Bodies to Pay

The Federation, federal entities, municipalities, territorial demarcations of Mexico City, parastatal entities of the Federal Public Administration, productive companies of the State, private charitable institutions, and cooperative societies, must pay foreign trade taxes even though according to other laws or decrees they do not cause federal taxes or are exempt from them.

In turn, they shall also be obliged to pay the compensatory quotas in those customs regimes determined by the Ministry of Economy, in accordance with the Foreign Trade Law, through the provisions published for such purposes in the Official Gazette of the Federation.

B) Jointly Responsible For Payment

The following are jointly responsible for the payment of foreign trade taxes and other contributions, as well as the compensatory quotas that are caused by the introduction of goods into the national territory or their extraction from it, without prejudice to the provisions of the Federal Tax Code:

I.- Agents for the acts that they personally carry out in accordance with the mandate.

II.- Customs agents, agencies, and agents authorized by them for those that arise due to imports or exports in whose customs clearance they intervene personally or through their agents or authorized employees.

The customs agent who has intervened in the customs operation from which the responsibility of the customs agency arises shall be subsidiarily responsible for the latter concerning the payment of foreign trade taxes, other corresponding contributions, and compensatory fees owed.

The partners of the customs agency are jointly responsible for the contributions that have been caused in relation to the activities carried out by the customs agency, in the part of the fiscal interest that cannot be guaranteed with the assets of the agency without said responsibility exceeding the participation they have in the share capital of the agency during the period or at the date in question.

This joint responsibility shall be calculated by multiplying the percentage of participation that the partner has had in the share capital subscribed at the time of the accrual by the omitted contribution.

III.- Owners and entrepreneurs of means of transport, pilots, captains, and in general, the drivers of the same, for the damages caused by the goods they transport when said persons do not comply with the obligations imposed by the laws referred to in article 1 of the Customs Law and its regulations (which we already saw in the introductory entry to Mexican Customs Law).

In the cases of goods transported by public means, the owners and entrepreneurs of public transport shall only be responsible when they do not have the documentation that accredits the legal stay in the country of the goods they transport.

IV.- The senders of goods from the border strip or region to the rest of the country for the differences in contributions that must be paid.

V.- Those who sell the goods subject to import or export, in the cases of subrogation established by the Customs Law.

VI.- General warehouses or the owner of the premises intended for international exhibitions for non-arrived goods or missing or surplus goods when they do not present the notices regulated in the Customs Law.

VII.- Persons who have obtained a concession or authorization to provide services of handling, storage, and custody of foreign trade goods when they do not comply with the obligations indicated in sections VII and VIII of article 26 of the Customs Law^[4].

VIII.- Possessors and holders of goods temporarily imported by residents abroad.

IX.- Those who transfer goods under the Customs Law and other applicable legal provisions for the damages caused by the aforementioned goods.

Finally, it is important to note that joint liability shall include accessories, except for fines.

C) Responsibility For the Accuracy of Information

The customs agent and the customs agency shall be responsible for the accuracy and accuracy of the data and information provided, for determining the customs regime of the goods, their correct tariff classification, and the exact determination of the commercial identification number, as well as for ensuring that the importer or exporter has the documents that prove compliance with the other obligations regarding non-tariff regulations and restrictions that apply to said goods, in accordance with the provisions of the Customs Law and other applicable laws and legal provisions.

D) Exceptions

The customs agent and the customs agency shall not be liable in the following cases:

I.- For the payment of the differences in contributions, compensatory fees, fines, and surcharges that are determined, as well as for the non-compliance with non-tariff regulations and restrictions, if these arise from the inaccuracy or falsity of the data and documents that the taxpayer had provided, provided that they could not have known said inaccuracy or falsity when examining the goods because chemical or laboratory analysis was required for their identification.

II.- For the contributions and, where applicable, compensatory fees omitted for the difference between the declared value and the customs value determined by the authority when any of the following hypotheses occur:

a) When the value declared in the request is less than the transaction value of identical or similar goods determined in accordance with articles 72 and 73 of the Customs Law by less than 40%.

b) When the goods are subject to prices estimated by the Secretariat, provided that the declared value is equal to or greater than the estimated price or the guarantee referred to in article 86-A, section I of the Customs Law has been granted.

III.- Of the omitted contributions that arise from the application of a preferential tariff when, in accordance with any international treaty or agreement to which Mexico is a party, a certificate of origin is required to enjoy preferential tariff treatment, provided that a copy of the certificate of origin that covers the goods is kept and it is ensured that the certificate is in the official format approved for such purposes that has been filled out in its entirety according to its instructions and that it is valid on the date of importation.

IV.- Of the omitted compensatory quotas when identical or similar goods are imported to those subject to said quotas, provided that a copy of the valid certificate of country of origin, issued per the applicable provisions, is kept.

In any case, the exclusions of liability indicated above shall not be applicable when the customs agencies or the customs agent state the name, address, or Federal Taxpayer Registry code of a person who has not entrusted them with the operation or clearance of the goods.

Finally, customs agents who act as consignees or agents of importers and exporters, as well as the legal representatives of the latter, shall also be exempt from liability concerning the country of origin declared in the request in the case of the import of goods identical or similar to those for which a compensatory fee must be paid, provided that they keep a copy of the certificate of country of origin or the other documents proving origin established by the applicable legal provisions and verify that:

1.- The brands and labels of the goods and their packaging correspond to the goods described or covered by the aforementioned documents.

2.- The documents have been issued by the appropriate person or entity, in accordance with the provisions of the applicable legal provisions on certification of the country of origin.

3.- The documents contain the information indicated in the applicable legal provisions on certification of the country of origin and are filled out, where appropriate, in accordance with the instructions established for such purposes.

4.- The tariff classification noted in the respective request, at the subheading level in the nomenclature, is that which corresponds to the goods covered by the documents relating to their origin, in accordance with the tariff of the General Import and Export Tax Law.

5.- The goods are susceptible to being considered as originating in the country indicated in the respective documents, in accordance with the rules of origin and criteria stated therein.

6.- The data recorded in the documents proving the origin of the goods correspond to those indicated on the invoice, transport document, customs declaration, or any other document used to support the import.

7.- In the case of country of origin certificates, the stamps and data noted on the certificate itself correspond reasonably to those authorized according to those available for consultation at the Federal Ministry of Economy.

2) Estimation of the Consideration

The quotas, taxable bases, currency exchange rates, compensatory quotas, other non-tariff regulations and restrictions, estimated prices, and applicable prohibitions shall be those in force on the following dates:

I.- Temporary or definitive import, fiscal deposit, and elaboration, transformation, or repair in a fiscalized area:

A) The one of anchoring and, when this is not carried out, the one of mooring or docking of the vessel that transports the goods to the port to which they are destined.

B) In which the goods cross the international dividing line.

C) The one of arrival of the aircraft that transports them to the first national airport.

D) By mail in those indicated in the previous numerals according to whether the goods have entered the country by the coasts, borders, or by air.

E) In which the goods become the property of the Federal Treasury, in cases of abandonment.

On the other hand, when the Tax Administration Service authorizes special facilities to carry out additional operations to the handling, storage, and custody of foreign trade goods in fiscalized premises, the date referred to in this last numeral shall be the date on which the goods are presented to the customs authorities for clearance, except in the case of non-tariff regulations and restrictions issued in matters of animal and plant health, public health, the environment, and national security.

II.- In exports, the date on which the goods are presented to the customs authorities.

III.- In cases where the goods enter or leave the country using pipes or cables or when the reading of the meters is carried out if they do not have a date indicator.

IV.- In cases of infringement:

A) In the case of commission of the infringement.

B) In the case of precautionary seizure of the goods, when the date of commission cannot be determined.

C) In the case of discovery, when the goods are not seized as a precautionary measure and the commission cannot be determined.

A) Determination in the Case of Reshipment of Goods

For the reshipment of goods of foreign origin from the border strip or region to the rest of the country, the contributions shall be determined considering the customs value of the goods on the date on which the assumptions referred to above occurred and shall be updated in the terms set out in 14) Update of Contributions.

However, in the case of goods that have been subject to manufacturing or transformation processes in said strip or region, the following shall apply:

I.- When the finished product corresponds to a tariff fraction and a commercial identification number different from the foreign goods used or incorporated in the manufacturing or transformation processes, the contribution update shall not be applicable. In this case, the contributions shall be determined at the time of reshipment, considering only the customs value of the foreign goods used and incorporated, as well as the tariff classification and the commercial identification number of the finished product.

II.- When the goods incorporated into the finished product can be identified, the importer may choose to pay the taxes according to the reshipment with update or the previous numeral.

The obligations regarding non-tariff regulations and restrictions, except in the case of compensatory quotas, in the cases referred to in the previous fractions, shall be those corresponding to the reshipment date.

Finally, if used goods are reshipped to the rest of the national territory and imported as new to the border strip or region, they shall not require a permit for their reshipment, provided that this circumstance can be verified. The provisions of this paragraph shall not apply to the reshipment of used goods whose importation as new to the border strip or region does not require a permit and does require one for their importation to the rest of the national territory.

3) Obligations of Those Who Introduce Or Extract Goods

Those who introduce or extract goods from the national territory must comply, without prejudice to the other obligations provided for in the Customs Law, with the following:

I.- Maintain automated inventory control systems that maintain an updated record of the control data of foreign trade goods at all times, which must be available to the customs authority.

However, taxpayers who import goods may comply with the obligation to maintain an inventory control system registered in accounting that allows distinguishing national goods from foreign goods through the registration of their operations with electronic fiscal registration equipment authorized by the Tax Administration Service or by keeping an inventory control with the retailer method and only when they carry out operations with the general public.

On the other hand, those who introduce goods under the temporary import regimes for manufacturing, transformation, or repair in maquila or export programs, fiscal deposit;

In the event of non-compliance with the provisions of this section, it shall be presumed that the goods that are the property of the taxpayer or that are in his possession or custody and those that are sold by the taxpayer from the date of importation, similar or equal to those imported, are of foreign origin.

II.- Obtain the information, documentation, and other means of proof necessary to verify the country of origin and origin of the goods for tariff preferences, marking of country of origin, application of compensatory quotas, quotas, and other measures established for this purpose in accordance with the Foreign Trade Law and international treaties to which Mexico is a party and provide them to the customs authorities when they require it.

However, in the case of the importation of goods under preferential tariff treatment under an international treaty to which Mexico is a party, the importer shall retain the original of the valid certificate of origin that covers the imported goods, as well as the other documents established in the international treaties for obtaining preferential tariff treatment, except when said documents have been issued to several importers, in which case the importers must retain a copy of them.

III.- Provide the customs agency or customs agent who is promoting the clearance of the goods and provide the customs authorities with a statement, under oath, containing the elements that, in accordance with the Customs Law and the rules issued for this purpose by the Tax Administration Service, allow the determination of the customs value of the goods.

The importer must keep said statement in a digital document and obtain the information, documentation, and other means of proof necessary to verify that the declared value has been determined in accordance with the applicable legal provisions of the Customs Law and provide them to the customs authorities when they require it.

In the case of exports, the value statement shall be accredited with the digital tax receipt issued in accordance with the applicable tax provisions, and when it does not contain the value of the goods, it shall be accredited with an equivalent document that expresses the value of the goods or in any other commercial document without including freight and insurance and, failing that, with the exporter’s accounting provided that it is in accordance with the financial information standards.

In the case of customs clearances in which a customs agency or a customs agent intervenes, the document that proves the order conferred to the customs agency or the customs agent to carry out its operations must also be delivered to the Tax Administration Service, together with the documentation required to comply with the provisions of numeral 4 of this section. Said document must be sent in copy to the customs agency or the customs agent for its corresponding filing and may be issued for one or more operations or specific periods. In this case, only the customs agency or the customs agent that has been commissioned may have access to the electronic customs system in charge of the authority in order to use the data disclosed in the registry by the importers.

If an importer has not commissioned the customs agency or the customs agent but acts as a consignee in an operation, the provisions of the previous paragraph shall not be observed, for which the administrator of the customs office through which the said merchandise is intended to be cleared, is empowered to authorize the operation under his strict responsibility.

Finally, the elements that the importer must provide attached to the declaration of value of the merchandise are the following documents:

1.- Commercial invoice.

2.-The bill of lading, packing list, air waybill, or other transport documents.

3.- The one that verifies the origin when applicable and the provenance of the merchandise.

4.- The one that shows the guarantee referred to in subsection e), section I of article 36-A of the Customs Law.

5.- The one that shows the payment for the goods, such as the electronic transfer of payment or letter of credit.

6.- The one related to the transportation, insurance, and related costs that correspond to the operation.

7.- Contracts related to the transaction of the merchandise object of the operation.

9.- Those that support the incremental concepts referred to in article 65 of the Customs Law.

10.- Any other information and documentation necessary to determine the customs value of the merchandise in question.

IV.- Be registered in the Register of Importers and, where applicable, in the Register of Importers of Specific Sectors or in the Register of Sectorial Exporters that are in charge of the Tax Administration Service, for which they must be up to date in the fulfillment of their tax obligations, as well as prove to the customs authorities that they are registered in the federal registry of taxpayers and comply with the other requirements established by the Regulation and those established by the Tax Administration Service through rules.

As regards the Register of Sectorial Exporters, those who request their registration must comply with the following:

1.- Be registered and active in the Federal Registry of Taxpayers.

2.-Have a valid Advanced Electronic Signature.

3.- Present proof of compliance with tax obligations.

4.-The other requirements established in general rules issued by the Tax Administration Service.

The authority shall resolve the request to enter the Sectorial Exporters Registry within 10 days, counted from the day after receiving the request.

5.- Create an electronic file of each of the requests, consolidated notices, or customs documents in question, which must contain the request itself in the format in which it was transmitted, as well as its annexes together with its electronic acknowledgments that must be kept as part of the accounting for the periods established in the Federal Tax Code.

A) Introduction or Extraction of Goods Without a Customs Agent

Those who promote the clearance of goods without the intervention of a customs agency or customs agent must comply with the following:

I.- Request from the Tax Administration Service, complying with the terms and conditions established in the Regulations of the Customs Law, that they be assigned an authorization number so that they can transmit requests through the electronic customs system.

II.- Transmit to the electronic customs system in the form and periodicity that the Tax Administration Service determines in rules the statistical information of the requests.

III.- Carry out the acts that correspond to them according to the Customs Law in the clearance of goods, using the electronic customs system and their advanced electronic signature or digital seal or with the corresponding technological means of identification.

IV.- Have the necessary equipment to promote electronic clearance in accordance with the rules issued by the Federal Ministry of Economy.

V.- Use official or electronic locks on vehicles and containers that transport merchandise from customs clearances they carry out, in accordance with what the Tax Administration Service establishes through rules, as well as prevent fiscal locks acquired from authorized manufacturers from being used on containers or vehicles that transport merchandise whose clearance they have not carried out. Likewise, state in the request or in the consolidated notice the number of the official or electronic lock used in vehicles or means of transport that contain the merchandise whose clearance they carry out.

VI.- In the case of merchandise subject to non-tariff regulations and restrictions whose compliance is carried out by electronic or digital document, note the corresponding acknowledgment in the request.

VII.- Declare, under oath, the nature and characteristics of the goods and other data relating to the foreign trade operation in which they are involved in the official forms and documents required or, where appropriate, in the electronic customs system.

VII.- Accept visits ordered by the customs authorities to verify compliance with their fiscal and customs obligations or for specific investigations.

4) Assignment of Goods and Exemptions

A) Assignment of Goods As a General Rule

Generally, although it may seem obvious, goods are directly and preferably assigned to fulfill fiscal obligations and liabilities generated by their entry or exit from Mexico.

In the cases provided for by this Customs Law (and which we will see in future entries), the customs authorities shall proceed to retain or seize them while it is verified that said obligations and liabilities have been satisfied.

The means of transport are subject to the payment of the contributions caused by the entry or exit from Mexico and the compensatory quotas caused by the entry into the national territory of the goods they transport if their owners, businessmen, or drivers do not comply with the payment of their fiscal and customs obligations.

B) Exemptions

Foreign trade taxes shall not be paid on the entry or exit to Mexico of the following goods:

I.- Those exempt according to the laws of general import and export taxes, international treaties, and goods imported for national defense or public security purposes.

Within this exemption, we must take into account the following:

1.- Goods imported by diplomatic, consular, or special foreign missions accredited in our country are exempt; the members of those missions and the offices of international organizations represented or based in national territory are exempt according to the international treaties and conventions to which Mexico is a party.

2.- Likewise, those imported by the Mexican Army and Air Force, the Mexican Navy, the federal public administration agencies, including their decentralized administrative bodies that perform national or public security functions, the state or municipal authorities in charge of public security, the Attorney General’s Office of the Republic and the attorney generals of the federative entities for their exclusive use in the exercise of their national defense and public security functions.

3.- In the case of diplomatic bags, it shall not be necessary to carry out customs clearance of the goods contained therein. In any case, said bag may only contain diplomatic documents or objects for official use in accordance with the provisions of the treaties to which Mexico is a party.

II.- Metals, alloys, coins and other raw materials required for the exercise by the competent authorities of the constitutional powers to issue coins and bills.

III.- Vehicles intended for international services for transporting cargo or people and their own essential equipment.

The preceding paragraph does not include vehicles commercially exploited in the national territory, those acquired for use or consumption in the country, or those intended for consumption or use abroad.

IV.- National goods that are essential, in the opinion of the customs authorities, for the supply of means of transport that carry out international services, as well as food (goods essential to satisfy the basic needs of passengers and crew of means of transport) for crew and passengers, except for fuel taken by vessels with foreign registration.

V.- Those intended for the maintenance of aircraft of national aviation companies that provide international services and are constituted in accordance with the respective laws.

VI.- Passenger luggage on international trips.

Personal luggage brought into or taken out of the national territory by ambassadors, plenipotentiary ministers, chargés d’affaires, counsellors, secretaries, and attachés of foreign diplomatic or special missions, consuls and vice-consuls, as well as their spouses, parents, and children, shall not be subject to the automated selection mechanism or to review, provided that there is international reciprocity.

However, when there are reasonable grounds to believe that personal luggage contains objects whose import or export is prohibited or subject to non-tariff regulations and restrictions under national legislation, the customs authority may only carry out the corresponding inspection after notifying the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

VII.- Household goods belonging to permanent residents and repatriated or deported nationals, which they have used during their residence abroad, as well as scientific instruments and tools when they are for professionals and the tools of workers and artisans. Merchandise that the interested parties have had abroad for commercial or industrial activities or vehicles are not included in this exemption.

On the other hand, the importation of household goods or merchandise other than luggage, travel items, or personal use, as well as property of members of diplomatic, consular, or special missions abroad, must be requested.

Finally, household goods may be understood as: the household goods and personal property of a house that are exclusively and properly used and handled by a family; clothing; books; bookshelves; works of art or science that do not constitute complete collections for the installation of exhibitions or art galleries; scientific instruments of professionals, as well as the tools of workers and craftsmen, provided that they are indispensable for the development of the profession, art or trade. Scientific instruments and tools that shall enjoy this exemption may not constitute complete sets for installing laboratories, consulting rooms, or workshops.

C) Requirements For Importing Household Goods

The importation of household goods is authorized provided that the corresponding request is accompanied by a declaration certified by the Mexican consulate of the place where the person who intends to import the household goods resided and that contains:

I.- The name of the importer.

II.- The address where he established his residence abroad.

III.- The time of residence abroad, which may not be less than 6 months.

IV.- The place where he will establish his residence in national territory.

V.- The description and quantity of the goods that make up the household goods.

VI.- State the data from the previous Import Request for household goods under oath.

Finally, it is pertinent to note that in the case of the second or subsequent household goods, the customs authority must request the corresponding authorization within the year following the first importation of household goods.

VIII.- Those imported by the inhabitants of the border area for their consumption, provided that they are of the class, value, and quantity established by the Tax Administration Service through general rules.

IX.- Those donated to be used for cultural, teaching, research, public health, or social service purposes, imported by public organizations, as well as non-taxpaying legal entities authorized to receive deductible donations in Income Tax, provided that they meet the following requirements:

a) That they form part of their assets.

b) That the donor is a foreigner.

c) That they have authorization from the Tax Administration Service.

d) That the other obligations regarding non-tariff regulations and restrictions are met.

X.- The teaching material received by students enrolled in schools abroad, except for devices and equipment of any kind, whether assembled or disassembled.

XI.- Those sent by heads of State or foreign governments to the Federation, states, municipalities, and charitable or educational establishments.

XII.- Articles for personal use by foreigners who have died in the country and by Mexicans whose deaths occurred abroad.

XIII.- Works of art intended to form part of the permanent collections of museums open to the public, provided that they obtain authorization from the Tax Administration Service.

XIV.- Those intended for public health institutions, except for vehicles, provided that they can only be used for this purpose, and those intended for non-taxpayer legal entities authorized to receive donations deductible from Income Tax. In these cases, they must form part of their assets and comply with other obligations regarding non-tariff regulations and restrictions.

XV.- Special or adapted vehicles and other goods imported by disabled people for their personal use, as well as those imported by non-taxpayer legal entities authorized to receive donations deductible from Income Tax whose activity is to care for said people, provided that they are goods that, due to their characteristics, compensate for or reduce their disability; allow said people to develop physically, educationally, professionally or socially; are used exclusively and permanently by them for these purposes, and have the authorization of the Federal Ministry of Economy.

For these purposes, a person with a disability shall be considered to be one who, due to the loss or abnormality of a psychological, physiological, or anatomical structure or function, suffers from a restriction or absence of the ability to carry out an activity in the manner or within the range that is considered normal for a human being, and who proves this circumstance with a certificate issued by a health institution with official authorization.

Finally, in the case of special or adapted vehicles, people with disabilities may import only one vehicle for personal use every 4 years. As for legal entities, they may import up to 3 vehicles every 4 years. In both cases, the importer may not sell said vehicles until 4 years after importing them.

XVI.- Obsolete machinery and equipment that is at least 3 years old from the date of temporary import, as well as waste, provided that they are donated by maquila companies or through export programs authorized by the Federal Ministry of Economy to public organizations or non-taxpaying legal entities authorized to receive deductible donations for Income Tax purposes.

XVII.- Those authorized to be donated to the Federal Treasury to be allocated to the Federation, to the federative entities, to the municipalities, to the territorial demarcations of Mexico City, or to non-profit legal entities authorized to receive deductible donations under the terms of the Income Tax Law that, where applicable, the donor expressly indicates for the attention of basic subsistence requirements in terms of food, clothing and health, as well as for the attention of housing, education and civil protection requirements of people, sectors or regions with limited resources.

If the importation of the goods in question requires compliance with non-tariff regulations or restrictions, the Tax Administration Service shall immediately inform the competent agency so that it may resolve its compliance within no more than 10 days.

In the case of goods donated to address emergencies, natural disasters, or conditions of extreme poverty, the competent authority must decide on compliance within a period of no more than 3 days.

After said periods have elapsed without the corresponding resolution being communicated, it shall be understood that the agency in question has resolved positively, and the Tax Administration Service may authorize the importation of the goods.

D) Prohibition of Sale of Exempt Goods

Goods imported under a tax exemption, franchise, or incentive may not be sold or used for purposes other than those that motivated the benefit. Their sale shall only proceed when said purposes are not distorted. When the goods are sold appropriately, the purchaser shall be subrogated to the importer’s obligations.

The customs authorities shall proceed to collect the general import tax and the compensatory fees incurred from the date on which the goods were introduced into the national territory, updating the aforementioned tax when they are sold or used for purposes other than those that motivated the benefit of the goods, regardless of the imposition of the corresponding sanctions.

By Omar Gómez

Mexican Tax, Administrative and Constitutional Attorney

Contact me at [email protected]

---

^[1] Article 63-A.- Those who introduce merchandise into the national territory under a tariff deferral or refund program shall be obligated to pay the corresponding foreign trade taxes, in accordance with the provisions of the treaties to which Mexico is a party, in the manner established by the Ministry of Economy through rules.

^[2] Article 108.- Maquiladoras and companies with export programs authorized by the Ministry of Economy may temporarily import merchandise to return abroad after having been destined for a manufacturing, transformation or repair process, as well as merchandise to return in the same condition, under the terms of the authorized program, provided that they comply with the control requirements established by the Tax Administration Service through rules. […]

III.- During the validity of the maquila or export program, in the following cases:

a) Machinery, equipment, tools, instruments, molds and spare parts destined for the production process.

b) Equipment and apparatus for pollution control; for research or training, industrial safety, telecommunications and computing, laboratory, measurement, product testing and quality control; as well as those involved in the handling of materials directly related to the export goods and others linked to the production process.

c) Equipment for administrative development.

In cases where residents in the country sell products to maquiladoras and companies that have export programs authorized by the Ministry of Economy, as well as to foreign trade companies that have registration with the Ministry of Economy, the goods of the seller shall be considered to have been temporarily imported and the definitive export of the goods shall be considered to have been completed, provided that there is proof of export.

Goods that have been temporarily imported in accordance with this article must return abroad or be destined for another customs regime within the established time periods. Otherwise, it shall be understood that they are illegally in the country, because the temporary import regime for which they were destined has ended.

Petroleum products are goods that cannot be subject to this regime.

^[3] Article 110.- Maquiladoras and companies with export programs must pay the general import tax incurred under the terms of articles 56 and 104 of this Law, the duties and, where applicable, the applicable compensatory fees, when temporarily importing the machinery and equipment referred to in article 108, section III of this Law, and may change said goods to the definitive import regime within the time periods referred to in article 108 of this Law, making payment of the corresponding contributions.

^[4] Article 26.- Persons who have obtained a concession or authorization to store goods in a warehouse at customs shall have the obligations mentioned below, in addition to those indicated in the respective concession or authorization: […]

VII.- Deliver the goods they have stored, once they verify that the data in the provided customs declaration coincide with those contained in the electronic customs system, which also shows the payment consignment of the contributions and, where applicable, the determined compensatory quotas.

In the case of operations covered by consolidated customs declarations, the verification shall be carried out considering the data contained in the consolidated notice provided, with those contained in the electronic customs system, which shows the consolidated customs declaration number.

In the case of delivery of goods in containers, the data relating to the container must also be verified with its characteristics.

VIII.- Immediately notify the customs authorities when, upon checking the data recorded in the customs declarations or in the consolidated notice referred to in the previous section, they detect that payment was not made or that the data does not match. In this case, they shall retain the customs declaration and the documents that have been presented to them in order to withdraw the merchandise.