Debt on the Installment Plan: Salinas Pliego Pays $10B MXN; $22B in Installments

BySin Embargo

This article originally appeared in the January 29, 2026 edition of Sin Embargo.

Mexico City. The Tax Administration Service (SAT) reported that Grupo Salinas, owned by businessman Ricardo Salinas Pliego, made an initial payment of 10,400,630,537 pesos, which was deposited into the Federal Treasury this Thursday. The remaining debt of 32,132,897,658 pesos will be paid in “small installments” over 18 payments.

This means that the owner of Elektra will have to settle the remaining 21,732,267,121 pesos of the debt in installments of 1,207,349,174.39 pesos.

“The Tax Administration Service (SAT) reports that, in accordance with the benefits established in the Federal Tax Code and in compliance with applicable court rulings, a business group will make a payment totaling 32,132,897,658 pesos. Of this amount, 10,400,630,537 pesos were already deposited into the Federal Treasury today, while the remaining amount will be covered through 18 payments,” the agency explained in a press release.

For its part, Grupo Salinas announced that it has decided to “turn the page” and conclude all the litigation it has been waging against the Mexican government.

“We have always said it, and we reiterate it today: Grupo Salinas and its founding president, Ricardo Benjamin Salinas Pliego, comply—and have always complied—with tax payments. In the last 20 years, our companies have paid more than 300 billion pesos in tax obligations. No one can deny that we are fulfilling our obligations to Mexico,” the business group stated in a press release.

Grupo Salinas Asserts it “no longer owes anything to the Government”

The business group stated that it has already fulfilled its obligations and owes nothing to the Government; however, there are still other lawsuits in which at least 23 billion pesos are being disputed.

“With this payment—which goes beyond the limits of the agreements originally reached in 2024—we will have covered absolutely everything the tax authorities demanded in this long legal battle. From now on, we owe nothing to the government, for any reason,” he stated, even though the administration of President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo denied the existence of such agreements.

“At Grupo Salinas we are convinced that, in order for things to change in our country, the first thing we must do is modify our way of thinking and call for a true cultural revolution,” the business group stated.

“To the Mexican people, we say: rest assured that Ricardo Benjamín Salinas Pliego and Grupo Salinas will always be allies of Mexico. We will never stop speaking the truth, seeking to restore to our nation and to every Mexican the prosperity that will reinstate us as a world-class example,” Grupo Salinas concluded.

This morning, Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo explained that Grupo Salinas formally expressed its intention to pay its tax debt on January 22. Following that communication, the amount to be paid and the application of discounts provided for in current legislation were under review, and the payment was finalized this afternoon.

“That’s the one currently on the table. It should be resolved this week. It has to be resolved this week. The Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation (SCJN) ruled that the injunction is invalid and that the latest ruling by the collegiate courts is valid. In that latest ruling by the collegiate courts, for two of the companies in the Salinas Group, it was established that they can receive the benefits provided by the Tax Code. So the Tax Administration Service (SAT) presented the benefits they are entitled to, and they are evaluating whether they will be able to implement them,” Sheinbaum commented.

Total Play Asks Court to Withdraw Injunction

Total Play Telecomunicaciones, SAPI de CV withdrew the direct appeal in review 2526/2025, filed in April of last year against the payment of a tax credit exceeding 645 million pesos, reported Lenia Batres Guadarrama, Minister of the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation (SCJN).

“The announcement made today by the SAT, regarding an initial payment of more than 10 billion pesos, out of a total exceeding 32 billion, made by Grupo Salinas, represents a historic victory for the rule of law and a very encouraging message about equality in the fulfillment of obligations by Mexicans, regardless of their economic capacity,” the constitutional judge stated.

The debt was determined by the Tax Administration Service (SAT) on September 6, 2017 and has been challenged since then through various appeals.

One of these trials was resolved in March 2024 by the now-defunct Second Chamber of the SCJN, which ordered the Federal Court of Administrative Justice (TFJA) to annul a sentence and issue another one that deducted 621 million pesos.

“The Federal Court of Administrative Justice (TFJA) reviewed its initial ruling, but without quantifying the corresponding deduction. Dissatisfied, the company filed a new appeal, which was denied, and requested a review before the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation (SCJN). The company requested to withdraw from this case, which was assigned to me,” the Minister revealed.

Complaint Before IACHR Remains Pending

In the middle of this month, Salinas Pliego, president of Grupo Salinas, went to Washington to meet with Pedro Vaca, Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression of the IACHR, before whom he filed a formal complaint against the Mexican State, due to “systematic harassment by the Government: fiscal, judicial and administrative persecution, coordinated to intimidate, wear down and silence those of us who think differently and raise our voices.”

“This sets a very dangerous precedent: the use of the state and organized crime as weapons to punish political opponents and restrict freedom of expression. In Mexico, they are trying to impose fear as a method of control,” he had stated.