SCJN orders CFE to pay 3,575 million pesos to the municipality of Chiapas

Mexico City. Following a decision by the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation (SCJN), taken this Wednesday, the Federal Electricity Commission (CFE) will be forced to disburse 3,575 million pesos to pay a municipality in Chiapas for property taxes. .

At the proposal of Minister Luis María Aguilar, and by three votes against two of the Ministers Lenia Batres and Yasmín Esquivel, the second room resolved, in the midst of a heated debate, an issue related to the struggle that focuses on the facilities of the Central Malpaso Hydroelectric Plant in the municipality of Tecpatán which seeks to charge the CFE not only for the space, but also for the entire reservoir involved in the dam.

“For a multimillion-dollar amount, which is clearly absurd and is being validated by this Supreme Court, allowing an act of injustice given that we have cases in which our current legislation allows the review of res judicata precisely when it is fraudulent, as in the present case,” Batres Guadarrama explained during the session.

In contrast, Minister Alberto Pérez Dayán defended that the country’s highest court is not validating any collection since it was only determined “with the force of legal truth” that the CFE VI did not have the capacity to participate in the procedure.

In July 2010, the municipal authorities attempted to charge the CFE 2,223,935,876 pesos for the fiscal years from 2006 to 2010 and it was the moment in which the productive company of the Mexican State began the lawsuit.

Against that resolution, the Federal Electricity Commission filed a revocation appeal before the Municipality of Tecpatán, Chiapas, against the collection of the Property Tax determined by the municipality. On January 26, 2011, the Municipal Treasurer of Tecpatán, Chiapas, issued the official letter TEC/TES/2011/008, through which he confirmed the collection to the CFE.

The legal battle began which, after going through a series of instances in the state of Chiapas, reached the Federal Judicial Branch 12 years later.

On January 31, 2022, the municipal treasurer of said Chiapas town, through the document TM/CACM/029/2022, updated the tax credit to the detriment of CFE Generación VI to an amount greater than 3 billion pesos, for which They went before a federal court to try to revoke the charge.

According to court records, the CFE argued that Article 115 of the Constitution prohibits the collection of property tax with respect to public domain assets of the Federation; however, for the majority of the members of the second chamber, it can no longer be done. nothing because it is a matter already judged.