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During this fiscal year, revisions have been presented in terms of the Federal Law for the Prevention and Identification of Operations with Illicit Resources, creating uncertainty and confusion among taxpayers due to the lack of background information and criteria issued by the tax, administrative, and judicial authorities; considering that the subject matter of the Anti-Money Laundering Law is administrative rather than fiscal, there was uncertainty regarding the application of the concept of spontaneity and its effects, since Article 55 of this Law stated that only the first act, i.e., a single notification, was considered spontaneous. and in the amendment to the Law published on July 16, 2025, this description is modified, stating that the total number of violations identified in the first review where this omission is penalized will be considered spontaneous.
Article 55. The Secretariat shall refrain from penalizing the offender, on a one-time basis, for all violations committed, provided that the offender voluntarily complies with the respective obligations prior to the commencement of the Secretariat's verification powers and expressly acknowledges the violation committed within the initial period of the verification procedure.
When the obligated party has already exercised the benefit referred to in the preceding paragraph, the Secretariat shall reduce by up to fifty percent the amount of the fines corresponding to the violations that are voluntarily rectified prior to the commencement of the verification powers, provided that the obligated party expressly acknowledges the violation committed before the authority within the initial period of the sanctioning procedure.
Article amended DOF 07-16-2025
The main obligation set forth in this Law is the submission of notices for the performance of vulnerable activities contained in Article 17, which must be submitted no later than the 17th day of the month immediately following the month in which the vulnerable activities were performed, without being able to access the benefit of extra days based on the last digits of the RFC, the date of submission being final.
In tax matters, we have the concept of voluntary compliance, which applies to practically all tax obligations and RFC notifications. It consists of not penalizing late filing or compliance, i.e., after the date specified in the tax regulations for compliance, provided that it is done voluntarily, i.e., before the SAT discovers the omission or begins its verification powers; The only requirement is that the obligation be fulfilled before the SAT requires compliance, either by request or through verification powers.
In addition to the requirement to comply with the obligation to submit notices before they are requested and to do so spontaneously, this opportunity should be a one-time occurrence and the offense committed should be accepted. However, in the reviews carried out by the tax authority, internal criteria were applied that did not recognize spontaneous compliance with the notices, only recognizing one notice as spontaneous and determining penalties for the other periods, issuing a fine for each notice submitted after the 17th day of the immediately following month.
However, with the amendment to Article 55 of the Federal Law for the Prevention and Identification of Operations with Illicit Resources published on July 16, 2025, this application changed, as the text of the article stipulates that all notices submitted before the start of the verification powers on a single occasion will be considered spontaneous, and not only the first fine; adding that, for other reviews after this benefit has been applied, fines will only be applied at 50% when there is spontaneous compliance.
In the event that a resolution is issued declaring untimely compliance and imposing penalties even when there is spontaneity, this benefit may be enforced by filing an appeal for revocation before the supervisory authority, or by filing an administrative lawsuit before the Federal Court of Administrative Justice, invoking the application of spontaneity in accordance with the wording of the amended article, and the administrative ruling is declared null and void, applying spontaneous compliance with the notices that were submitted before the SAT's request or the commencement of its verification powers, when it is the first occasion.
In conclusion, the authority may be required to comply with the criteria of the reform, or the administrative decision and tax credit may be challenged in order to render the decision null and void and issue a new one, considering the obligation to have been spontaneously fulfilled. At Pérez Góngora y Asociados, we are a firm specializing in tax and administrative matters, where we can support you with advice and challenges in administrative, tax, and anti-money laundering matters, defending your interests and assets. We have trained and experienced staff in tax matters, at your service to protect your interests.
Written by Jose Baldemar Cantú Caballero, Esq.
