Dear Clients and Friends,
Recently, the Second Chamber of the Nation’s Supreme Court of Justice issued jurisprudence number 2a./J. 161/2019 (10a.), entitled: “PRIVATE DOCUMENTS. THEY MUST COMPLY WITH THE REQUIREMENT OF ‘CERTAINTY OF DATE’ IN THE CASE OF THE EXERCISE OF AUDIT POWERS, TO VERIFY THE COMPLIANCE OF TAX OBLIGATIONS OF THE TAXPAYER”.
In said jurisprudence, the Second Chamber establishes that the “certainty of date” is an enforceable requirement concerning private documents that are presented to the tax authority as a consequence of the exercise of its audit powers, documents which the taxpayer must conserve to demonstrate the acquisition of goods or the entering into an agreement or a transaction that has an effect on his activities for tax purposes.
This implies that even though tax laws do not establish it, the documents with which taxpayers provide backup to their transactions must have certainty of date, in order for the tax authority to verify the existence of the legal acts performed by taxpayers and which correspond to the tax years subject to review.
For such purpose, the Second Chamber established that those documents acquire certainty of date:
•When they are registered before the Public Registry of Property;
•As of the date they are presented to a person that has been vested with “public faith” (such as a Notary Public or Public Broker); and
•As of the moment in which any of the signing parties is deceased.
Therefore, it is imperative that private documents that are exhibited to the tax authority as a consequence the exercise of its audit powers and which intend to demonstrate the existence (or “materiality”) of transactions, have certainty of date, in order to avoid that such tax authority denies their validity which could derive in a tax contingency.
Should you have any questions related to the foregoing, please do not hesitate to reach out to your usual contact at the Firm.
Consultoría y Litigio Fiscal / Tax Consultancy and Litigation
Gabriel Márquez
[email protected]
Luis Miguel Melgar
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Edmundo Hernández
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Arturo Bañuelos
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Felipe Mendoza
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Fernando Holguín
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