Mexico denies threatening criminal charges to boost tax take

The American Bar Association (ABA) in a letter to Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador this week said it had reports of criminal probes aimed at pressuring alleged tax dodgers to pay, echoing a letter from the International Bar Association last month. Responding to the Chicago-based ABA, the finance ministry rejected the assertion.

Mexico's government on Friday denied threatening to press criminal charges as a negotiating tactic to force companies to pay taxes, arguing that its investigations stem from a duty to prosecute violations. The American Bar Association (ABA) in a letter to Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador this week said it had reports of criminal probes aimed at pressuring alleged tax dodgers to pay, echoing a letter from the International Bar Association last month.

Responding to the Chicago-based ABA, the finance ministry rejected the assertion. "The fiscal prosecutor does not threaten; it reports socially reprehensible behaviors and presents its position before a judge," the ministry said in a statement.

Any proposals to reach a settlement over disputes must come from the taxpayer, the ministry added. Mexico has the weakest tax take in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), and Lopez Obrador has made boosting collection a priority.

In recent months, Walmart Inc's Mexico unit, Coca-Cola bottler Femsa and Grupo Modelo have all said they reached agreements with the Mexican authorities over tax disputes. Mexico's top tax prosecutor Carlos Romero told Reuters earlier this month two big companies faced possible criminal charges over taxes after they failed to strike a deal with authorities.