Mexican Businesses Vow Fight on New Tax Laws Tracy Wilkinson - The Los Angeles Times
go to original November 2, 2013

Workers produce mannequins at the Tecma Group, which operates 18 maquiladoras for 33 companies in the northern border city of Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. (Raymundo Ruiz/Associated Press)

MEXICO CITY — Hardly had the ink dried on President Enrique Peña Nieto's contentious $14-billion tax plan when big business — especially the powerful maquiladora industry on Mexico's border with the U.S. — raised a loud voice of protest, vowing to fight a package that opponents say will cripple industry.

Major business groups, after weeks of unsuccessful lobbying, said Friday they would mount legal challenges to block the plan, which won final congressional approval Thursday and would raise taxes on border enterprises including the thriving maquiladoras, as the export-centered assembly plants near the border are known.

Finance Minister Luis Videgaray said he was confident the government would prevail over the challenges. "We are ready for them," he said in a radio interview Friday.

He accused many businesses of a form of tax evasion and said the new regulations would close numerous loopholes. Mexico has one of the lowest tax-collection rates in the developed world.

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