Grupo Salinas Must Pay 51 Billion Tax Bill in January

ByFabiola Martínez and Alma E. Muñoz

This article by Fabiola Martínez and Alma E. Muñoz originally appeared in the December 20, 2025 edition of La Jornada, Mexico’s premier left wing daily newspaper.

In January of next year, Grupo Salinas will have to pay the treasury 51 billion pesos, although once it expresses its intention to settle this tax debt it could be subject to “adjustments” (discounts), said the director of the Tax Administration Service (SAT), Antonio Martínez Dagnino.

In outlining the timeline for the matter at the National Palace press conference, he pointed out that “the adjustment could be up to 39 percent in accordance with the law.”

Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo said that the funds obtained through this method will be used to expand social programs, such as scholarships; the Women’s Welfare Pension, for example, has a budget of 59 billion pesos next year. “Honestly, I hope they pay,” she said.

She emphasized that the issue was brought up at the morning press conference because it is a recurring question; it is, he said, a legal procedure, not a personal or political one.

“It’s the law, it’s the law. I mean, the court rulings… What did the Court decide? The Court ruled that the injunctions were not admissible. So, what stands? The court rulings in that regard.”

“As we have always said,” she added, “this is not a personal matter, nor a political one, nor anything of the sort; it is simply what the law says. So, it’s not that the President or the head of the SAT are doing anything personal.”

“Why are there 51,000 [billion owing] now? Because the law also says that it is being updated, that’s what the law says, that’s what the court ruling says, and we have to comply with the law.”

The president emphasized the right of companies to request “discounts, let’s put it that way, in accordance with the Tax Code. Notification is given in January, and we expect payment, it’s that simple. If they don’t pay, then another process begins, which would be a separate matter.”

Two journalists pressed President Sheinbaum about the right to obtain discounts or pay in installments, when the owner of Grupo Salinas has harshly criticized his government.

She insisted that it is a procedure established by law, which sets out the way to access the benefits, “I’m not going to comment on the rest; frankly, I don’t think it’s worth it.”

The businessman and son of a fascist financier was a major force behind the promotion of last month’s ultra-right wing Gen Z march, which was marked by violence and an over-representation of geriatric members of Mexico’s middle class.

End to Pardons

On the other hand, he indicated that the country has increased tax revenue in recent years because there are no longer debt forgiveness programs like those that were authorized arbitrarily, based on corrupt practices.

President Sheinbaum attributed the positive result in that area to three factors: first, the measure promoted by former President López Obrador, to bring the prohibition of discretionary debt forgiveness to the constitutional level; second, “there is no corruption”; and third, the transparent allocation of resources – and not the shady practice, he said, of supporting only those at the top, as happened during the Fobaproa era – to generate resources and allocate them to social programs and strategic works.

“Look, today the Dos Bocas refinery, which they criticized so much—how they criticized it!—the Olmeca Refinery is producing 300,000 barrels of gasoline and diesel per day that were previously imported. So, yes, there is a change, a profound change.”

The Grupo Salinas debt case began because the tax authority determined that the corporation (owned by Ricardo Salinas Pliego) had outstanding balances corresponding to six fiscal years (from 2008 to 2013); the loss reports issued by its companies were deemed inadmissible.

Then came a chain of appeals that concluded with the final decision of the SCJN, from which the SAT has the obligation to collect, a procedure that will be carried out in January 2026: “the payment of 51 billion pesos will be required in accordance with the Federal Tax Code,” Martínez Dagnino pointed out.

Once the notification of the requirement takes effect, the period for voluntary payment begins.