Almost half of the gasoline that Mexico imports is smuggled: SAT

It seems that the strategy of the government of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador to increase vigilance on fuel importers to eliminate the illegal internment of the product is not working as expected.

According to a report released on Tuesday by the Tax Administration Service (SAT), at least 47% of gasoline imported into the country last year was smuggled. The illegal import of gasoline, diesel and gas condensates has reached a new record in recent years.

The supervisory body estimates at 102 million barrels the smuggling of fuels and other petroleum products during the past year, an increase of 122% compared to 2018, when the reported figure was 45.8 million barrels.

The federal government has set itself as one of its main goals to reduce illegal imports of fuels, which occurs under the mechanics of placing the product into the country under other tariff headings and thus avoiding paying the taxes that are fixed on gasoline and other products of the type. Those who illegally import fuels often declare them as “lubricants”, which avoids the payment of Excise Income Tax (IEPS).

“Since 2020, there has been an increase in lubricant imports, without there being any support in economic activity. These products are not subject to IEPS payment, so they are used as a means of evasion to introduce hydrocarbons through land customs,” says the SAT in the document.

From the beginning of 2021, the Ministry of Energy, the Energy Regulatory Commission (CRE) and the SAT initiated a process of periodic checks at storage, import, transfer terminals and other points in the logistics chain to supervise the procedures for the hospitalization of gasoline, in search of irregularities related to the illegal import of fuels.

It has also tightened foreign trade rules, including the elimination of some petrol import points.

The SAT says that as a result of the illegal import of fuels, the revenue from the IEPS decreased by 58,078 million pesos in 2021 compared to a year earlier.

The report reports that the illegal introduction of fuels has changed and now occurs mainly by land, through pipes and tank trucks. This was after the change of command at maritime customs and that contained internment through maritime customs.

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