▲ The Morena vice coordinator in San Lázaro expressed that the tax on violent video games is preventive, not to achieve greater taxation.Photo Marco Peláez
Andrea Becerril
La Jornada Newspaper
Sunday, December 28, 2025, p. 8
The original intention to establish an 8 percent tax on violent video games “is legitimate and necessary” since it sought to promote a culture of peace, however, the initiative generated various doubts from the beginning and therefore the decision of President Claudia Sheinbaum to withdraw that tax, commented Morena’s vice coordinator in the Chamber of Deputies, Dolores Padierna.
In an interview, he explained that in Congress they will be waiting for the President of the Republic to present a formal proposal, since she has the exclusive power to initiate initiatives regarding taxes, levies and tariffs, although this can wait even until the ordinary period that begins next February 1st.
“A truly insignificant income is calculated from this tax on violent video games. It is not a relevant collection,” he said and insisted that this Special Tax on Products and Services (IEPS) on video games was included within the Income Law as a preventive task, not with a view to achieving greater taxation.
He noted that during the debate on its inclusion in the 2026 Income Law, the difficulty in measuring and calculating the tax was assessed, to the fact that those who mainly consume these video games are girls, boys, adolescents and young people. “Charging a tax on them opened a complex and sensitive debate.”
The aim was to contribute to a culture of peace among minors, he expressed, since “it is true that many digital platforms normalize violence, confrontation and killing. The underlying challenge is to move towards agreements with the platforms to promote content that strengthens the best of human beings, cooperation, creativity and respect.”
Also take into account, he added, that the culture of peace “is already promoted from schools, families and the community, where values, conscience and peaceful coexistence are formed. That is where the main effort should be concentrated.”
Representative Padierna stressed that in this context, the cancellation of this tax on purple video games “opens a deeper reflection: there is much to do to build peace and it must be done with intelligence, social co-responsibility and comprehensive public policies.”
The presidential initiative will be to modify the Income Law enacted on November 7, which comes into force on January 1, 2026.
