Compared to 2020, the number of people registered in the Federal Taxpayer Registry (RFC) increased by almost one million, that is, 978,189 in 2021.
Few meet or have tax obligations
Despite the magnitude, and compared to the most populous country in the European Union, the number of taxpayers who pay their taxes and file annual returns in Mexico is very low.
Mexicans who filed returns with VAT payment were 2 million, which represented 2.4% of the universe of those registered in the RFC. Meanwhile, 4 million filed their declaration with ISR payment; which are 4.9% of the total.
The fact of being registered does not mean that taxes are paid. Information from the Treasury states that active taxpayers registered in the RFC can do so with or without tax obligations; that have not been suspended or cancelled.
poor collection
“The Mexican state is a poor state. The income it collects from taxes today is equivalent to 13.1% of GDP. This amount is too low to deal with the socioeconomic problems that afflict us, such as the lack of growth and the number of Mexicans living in poverty, ”says the document, Tax reform, starting point towards post-pandemic equality in Mexico.
It is a very low amount, too, compared to what other countries of the same income level collect. In 2019 Brazil, Argentina and South Africa collected 33.1, 28.7 and 26.2% of their GDP, respectively, according to figures for the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).
“This anomaly is and has always been one of the greatest challenges for the country’s development in the last century,” the document highlights.
OECD data shows that relative to the size of its economy, Germany’s tax collection reached 38.6% in 2019.
