One of the most frequently asked questions among taxpayers has to do with the type of amounts that can be refunded to the Tax Administration Service (SAT). In view of this, below we will comment on everything you should know regarding the terms “payment of the undue amount” and “balance in favor”.
Article 22 of the Federal Tax Code states that the tax authorities will return to the taxpayers the amounts unduly paid and those that proceed in accordance with the tax laws, either due to the existence of an undue payment or a credit balance.
Now, the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation determined that the undue payment refers to all those amounts that the taxpayer paid in excess, that is to say, amounts that the individual did not owe to the Federal Tax Authorities, but that occurred due to having paid an amount greater than the amount imposed by the law of the matter.
An example of undue payment would be when a jurisdictional body resolves the nullity of a tax credit that was paid by the taxpayer, thus, by virtue of this, the taxpayer could request a refund of the amount paid with respect to the determination declared null, another example would be when due to an arithmetic error a greater amount of tax is paid than what was owed.
On the other hand, the Court determined that the credit balance does not derive from a calculation, arithmetic or appreciation error of the elements that constitute the tax liability of the taxpayer, but rather it results from the application of the mechanics established in the law of the matter.
For example, a taxpayer could generate a balance in favor of the value added tax (VAT) if derived from its daily economic activities, at the end of the month it has a greater amount of VAT credited than VAT transferred, that is to say, once it has covered its payment obligations with respect to this tax, there is still a balance in the creditable VAT account which it could request a refund.
The Tax and Administrative Law team of Vega, Guerrero & Asociados is ready to advise companies that require additional information on the content of this document.
