The Morena legislators “gave us atole with the finger” and avoided modifying taxes that will encourage the increase in illegality, in exchange for a tax collection policy that only will cause losses to the national industry and small merchants, lamented the Council for the Development of Small Commerce and Family Business (WithSmallTrade SC) chaired by Gerardo Cleto López Becerra.
Despite the fact that the deputies summoned business organizations, study centers, cooperative workers, and union chambers to demonstrate with data and figures that the proposed increases to the IEPS It would encourage the informal economy and street trade, but nothing was taken into account.
By not modifying the tax proposal for 2026, “small merchants will be the losers,” since grocery stores, which already face competition from chains and convenience stores, also face an alarming situation: extortion by organized crime to sell specific brands of illegal cigarettes.
“In states such as Coahuila, Nuevo León and Tamaulipas, it is estimated that up to 90% of traditional stores are forced to sell products controlled by criminal groups. The increase in taxes would have catastrophic consequences,” said Gerardo López.
“The Chamber of Deputies sent a negative message to society by approving increases in special taxes, as well as the creation of new taxes for various products and services that will be paid starting January 2026, including 200% on cigarettes and 30% on soft drinks,” said the organization of small merchants.
According to the National Institute of Public Health on a study on the consumption of illicit cigarettes in Mexico, the illicit trade in cigarettes has grown 240% between 2017 and 2023 alone, going from 8.5% to 20.4% of national consumption.
The main reason for the increase in smokers in Mexico is the illegal cigarettes that are smuggled into our country, which are much cheaper than the national product.
