Amendments to the General Rules of Foreign Trade

Dear Clients and Friends,

On July 24, 2020, the First Resolution of Amendments to the General Rules of Foreign Trade for 2020, was published, modifying obligations and benefits to companies registered in the Certification Scheme Registry, both in the VAT and IEPS modalities, and in the Authorized Economic Operator modality.

Furthermore, yesterday the Tax Service Administration published in its website that VAT/IEPS Certified Companies must pay fees for the granting and renewals of such authorizations retroactively since 2015.

Changes in the registration in the Certification of Companies Scheme, VAT and IEPS Modalities:

• The benefit to obtain a VAT refund within a period not exceeding 20 days (“A” certification), 15 days (“AA” certification) and 10 days (“AAA” Certification), iseliminated.
• The benefit of having a procedure to amend or challenge  what was observed by the customs authority prior to the suspension in the  Importers’ Registry, iseliminated; the suspension in the Importers’ Registry will be immediate in case the customs authority observes a cause for suspension.
• The benefit of being able to self-correct in the event of irregularities in foreign trade operations, is eliminated.
• The benefit of being exempted from transmitting or providing the “Declaration of Value” in temporary import operations processed under the IMMEX program, is eliminated.
• The benefit of allowing goods temporarily imported under the IMMEX program to remain in the national territory for up to 36-months, is eliminated.
• In the case of goods manufactured by companies with an IMMEX program in the electrical and electronic sector, which can be individually identified , the benefit to conduct the customs clearance of the imported goods without including the serial numbers, part, trademark and model in the pedimento, in the equivalent document, value acknowledgment, in the shipping document or in an attached relation, is eliminated.
• When temporarily imported goods are transferred to other companies with IMMEX Program, to companies of the terminal automotive industry or manufacturing of motor transport vehicles, or to persons who have the authorization to use the goods in the Strategic Fiscal Precinct the benefit to make such transfer through a single pedimento, which covers the virtual operations that are made, is eliminated.
• For the companies with the “AA” certification, the benefit of receiving a letter of invitation in case the customs authority detects alleged omissions to contributions, prior to the beginning of customs’ audit, is eliminated.

• The benefit of the homologation of the validity of the Certification modalities VAT and IEPS “AA” and “AAA” certifications, with the validity of the Authorized Economic Operator Certification, is eliminated.
• The obligation to pay annual fees pursuant to the tariff established in article 40, paragraph m) of the Government Fees Federal Law, is added.  Such payment must be made through the e5cinco electronic format.
  
  Changes in the registration in the Company Certification Scheme, Authorized Economic Operator Modality (AEO):
  • The benefit of having a procedure to amend or challenge the observations made by the customs authority prior to the suspension in the Register of Importers, is added.
  • The benefit for the temporarily imported merchandise under the IMMEX Program to remain in the national territory for up to 36 months, is added.
  • The benefit of being exempted from transmitting or providing the “Declaration of Value” in the temporary import operations processed under the IMMEX program, is added.
  • The obligation to pay annual fees pursuant to the the tariff established in article 40, paragraph m) of the Government Fees Federal Law, is added. Such payment must be made through the e5cinco electronic format.
    It should be noted that the second transitory article of the General Rules of Foreign Trade establishes that for the companies that already had their certification at the time the Resolution was published, these changes would come into effect at the time of renewal of the corresponding Certification.

    Finally, and regarding the payment of retroactive fees for obtaining and extending the authorization of the VAT/IEPS certification, the following fees must be paid  updated with Mexican inflation  and with surcharges in order to avoid the issuance of a tax credit and the possible cancellation of the certification.

    Year	Fee
    2015	$ 24,506.67
    2016	$ 25,048.27
    2017	$ 25,874.86
    2018	$ 27,590.36
    2019	$ 28,889.87
    2020	$ 29,747.90

    As on previous occasions, we will keep you informed and remain at your service.

    Tax & Trade

    Felipe Mendoza fmendoza@ecrubio.com Juan Carlos Partida juan.partida@ecrubio.com Fernando Holguín fholguin@ecrubio.com Eduardo David eduardo.david@ecrubio.com Arturo Bañuelos arturo.banuelos@ecrubio.com Edmundo Hernández edmundo.hernandez@ecrubio.com Alejandro Montes alejandro.montes@ecrubio.com Pablo Méndez pablo.mendez@ecrubio.com