13 Local Legislations with Ecological Taxes in 2024
San Luis Potosí joins the list of now 13 Federal Entities that have established an ecological tax for various types of emissions.
I. Ecological Taxes
Ecological taxes are those contributions that seek to discourage activities that may cause adverse harm to the environment in accordance with a precautionary principle, which aims to tax the activity before it generates environmental damage. In Mexico, as environmental matters are of concurrent jurisdiction between the Federation and the Federal Entities, there are ecological taxes applicable throughout the Republic and ecological taxes that only apply within the jurisdiction of a particular State.
San Luis Potosí has become the thirteenth Federal Entity in the country to establish an ecological tax, whose purpose is to deter the performance of activities that may have adverse effects on the environment and/or raise funds from the performance of such activities to be invested in measures to counteract the effects of these activities.
The 13 Federal Entities that have this ecological tax, either for the extraction of minerals, pollution to the soil and subsoil, or emissions to the atmosphere are Baja California, Campeche, Coahuila, State of Mexico, Guanajuato, Nuevo León, Oaxaca, Querétaro, Quintana Roo, San Luis Potosí, Tamaulipas, Yucatán, and Zacatecas. Additionally, there are also ecological taxes at the Federal level.
The existing local ecological taxes in these Federal Entities tax 1) the extraction and use of materials or minerals from the soil and subsoil (Baja California, Campeche, Coahuila, Nuevo León, Oaxaca, Querétaro, and Quintana Roo); 2) the emission of polluting gases into the atmosphere (State of Mexico, Guanajuato, Nuevo León, Oaxaca, San Luis Potosí, Tamaulipas, Yucatán, and Zacatecas); 3) the emission of pollutants into the soil and subsoil (Guanajuato, Nuevo León, and Yucatán); 4) The deposit and/or storage of waste (Guanajuato, Querétaro, and Zacatecas); 5) the emission of pollutants into Mexican waters (Nuevo León and Yucatán).
II. New Ecological Tax in San Luis Potosí
On December 18, 2023, the State Congress of San Luis Potosí published the Revenue Law of the State of San Luis Potosí that will be in force for the year 2024 and that establishes, among other contributions, a new ecological tax on emitters of determined amounts of pollutants to the atmosphere in the territory of the State.
This tax will come into force in the Federal Entity from April 01, 2024, and establishes a tax equivalent to 3 Units of Measure and Update (“UMA”), for each ton of emissions to the atmosphere in the territory of the State, which is equivalent to a total of $325.71 per ton emitted.
The new tax defines emissions to the atmosphere as: “the direct or indirect expulsion of carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons, and sulfur hexafluoride, either individually or in any combination of them that affect air quality, the components of the atmosphere and that constitute greenhouse gases that impact environmental deterioration by causing global warming”.
The tax will be calculated by each taxpayer in San Luis Potosí in accordance with the emission records that each generating source must maintain in accordance with the provisions of the applicable local and federal environmental laws.
In accordance with the trends observed internationally in environmental matters, it is expected that more Federal Entities in Mexico will join this growing list by establishing similar contributions for those who carry out activities that have an adverse environmental impact in their respective territories.
We reiterate our availability to our clients for any questions or clarifications regarding these ecological contributions, as well as for any legal matter related to Mexican environmental regulations.
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Sustainability and Environment Area at ECIJA Mexico
socios.mexico@ecija.com
+52 55 5662 6840
www.ecija.com
