Mexico City.- A federal court confirmed on Wednesday that the Santos Laguna club acted illegally by paying its players and coaching staff under the heading of “work risk bonuses,” when in reality they were salaries.
This scheme, applied in the 2014 fiscal year, was used to evade the withholding of Income Tax (ISR), and was implemented using a collective bargaining agreement with the National Union of Workers of the Hotel, Similar and Related Industry of the Mexican Republic.
Santos Laguna attempted to deduct 97.6 million pesos for these payments, but the SAT rejected the deduction, which was confirmed by the Federal Administrative Court (TFJA).
“The rejection of the deduction for the collective labor contract, in the amount of 97.6 million pesos, is legal, since (Santos Laguna) maintains that these are expenses for the concept of work risk premiums.
“In reality, it is not being proven that they have that nature, and instead they correspond to the payment of salaries for the provision of services to professional soccer players, for which the withholdings charged to third parties were not reported, nor are they covered by a tax receipt,” explained Judge Zulema Mosri, during the session of the Superior Chamber of the TFJA.
The scheme of paying risk premiums instead of salaries was also used in 2017, and is part of the criminal accusation for tax fraud of 17 million pesos that the government initiated in June 2023 against Alejandro Irarragorri, owner of Santos Laguna and the Orlegi Group.
The TFJA reviewed a tax credit established in 2022. In her presentation, Judge Mosri did not detail the amount involved for the 2014 fiscal year, although a few days ago, it was revealed in a morning conference of the President that the team has tax credits for 1,271 million pesos.
The court also confirmed that Santos Laguna illegally deducted payments made to other teams for player cards, which it recorded as “intangible assets.”
Mosri explained that these payments, the amount of which he did not specify, are not intangible assets, but only serve to terminate the player’s contract with his previous team.
In addition, the illegality of deductions with a supplier classified by the SAT as an invoicing company, for 94 thousand pesos, was confirmed; for payments to the company Búsqueda de Talento for the detection of new players, since the existence of the operation was not accredited, as well as the payment of disciplinary sanctions by Femexfut, for 218 thousand pesos.
However, the TFJA ruled that the SAT should have accepted the application of tax losses from previous years for 24 million pesos, and it was correct that Santos Laguna did not report as accruable income the arrival of a player for whom it did not have to pay.
Therefore, the SAT will have to issue a new resolution, in which the tax credit for the 2014 fiscal year will have to be lower, by applying the concepts that the TFJA considered legal.
The TFJA approved the ruling by five votes to four, but the minority did not object on the substantive issues, but rather on a technical issue regarding the nature of the trial that the team promoted.
On August 2, Santos Laguna stated that he has no debt with the SAT, but at the same time, he clarified that he “disagrees with the interpretation and actions” of said body and criticized the penalization of matters that should be resolved through administrative means.
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