Cut analyzes case on whether the zero VAT rate applies to herbal medicine

Iván Evair Saldaña

La Jornada newspaper
Wednesday, September 17, 2025, p. 18

The Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation (SCJN) admitted to analyze whether to attract a trial of the pharmaceutical company, a variable capital company, in which the high court would define whether herbal drugs must receive the same fiscal treatment as those of patent; that is, apply the zero value rate of added value (VAT).

According to the judicial lists, the Court reported that it admitted the review of the Direct Amparo 266/2025 in VAT.

The Court must determine whether it is of importance and transcendence to know this trial, in which the correct interpretation and application of article 2-A, section I, subsection b), of the Value Tax Law, and of article 7 of its regulations, in the light of the principle of tax equity provided for in article 31, section IV, of the Constitution, of the Constitution.

Specifically, it is proposed if herbal drugs could be considered in an alleged equivalent to that of patent treatments in their different legal meanings, in order to recognize the same fiscal benefit consisting of the application of the 0 percent VAT rate.

Meanwhile, the process of the original trial was arrested and all the parties involved were notified. The Plenary of the Court will decide whether to assume the resolution of the case or if it returns it to the Collegiate Court for analysis.

The file derives from a request for attraction related to the interpretation of the VAT Law and its regulations, in a dispute where the tax authority only partialized the return requested by the pharmaceutical company, under the “conventional VAT” scheme.

This scheme is the general tax regime, in which companies charge their clients and accredit the paid to their suppliers, and then find out the difference to the SAT or request return when it is a balance in favor.

The official notification on the admission of the matter was held on September 11, 2025.