Government reactivates the Treasury's Undersecretariat of Revenue

Dora Villanueva

La Jornada NewspaperTuesday, February 25, 2025, p. 15

The government revived the defunct Undersecretariat of Revenue of the Ministry of Finance and Public Credit, which was abolished during the six-year term of Andrés Manuel López Obrador.

A presidential decree changed the internal regulations of the agency, thus restructuring the area that was in charge of all the policy of raising resources by the Mexican State at a time when public finances are grappling with a public deficit of 5.7 percent.

Beyond the Tax Administration Service (SAT), which focuses on tax collection from taxpayers, the Undersecretariat of Revenue had been part of the Treasury until the last six-year term, when it was eliminated in the midst of austerity policies and part of its tasks were distributed among the other two areas of the branch, especially that of Expenditures.

The decree was published in the Official Gazette of the Federation and revives the undersecretary responsible for analyzing the mechanisms so that the public administration can be financed not only with taxes, but also with income from hydrocarbons and rights, among other fees.

The recovery of the Undersecretariat of Revenue comes at a time when public finances in 2024 had the highest deficit in three decades, which for this year is expected to be 3.9 percent. Both figures impact the growth forecast for the country's gross domestic product, to which is added the uncertainty due to the trade threats that the Donald Trump government has made to its main trading partner.

The decree comes into force today and it is noted that the undersecretariat will have three units: non-tax revenue and hydrocarbons policy, tax revenue policy and tax legislation.

The first will focus on resources from royalties paid by companies specializing in oil and gas extraction, while there will be an area focused on reviewing contracts in the sector. The tax revenue area will establish the policy for efficient collection aligned with the country's fiscal objectives.

Finally, the tax legislation unit will review tax laws and treaties with other countries, as well as the coordination of international tax legislation and the management of the multilateral center, the regulation of direct and indirect taxes and the review of foreign trade and customs regulations.

▲ Photo taken from the YouTube account of the Congress of Mexico City

La Jornada NewspaperTuesday, February 25, 2025, p. 15

Roberto Fernández González, who was treasurer in Mexico City during Claudia Sheinbaum's administration, has been appointed to manage the Federal Treasury, replacing María Elvira Concheiro Bórquez, the Ministry of Finance and Public Credit reported in a statement. The official has a degree in administration from the National Autonomous University of Mexico, with a diploma in ecology, sustainable development and environmental management from the Ibero-American University; he was deputy treasurer of cadastre and territorial registry of the Government of the Federal District from 2010 to 2015. Among other positions, he coordinated the CDMX Cadastral Modernization Program, served as administration and finance manager at the DF Credit Recovery Trust, was administration director of the Passenger Transport Network, deputy director of environmental economics at the capital's Environment Secretariat and advisor to the president of the National Institute of Ecology.