EUROsociAL promotes Tax Support Centres in 56 Mexican universities

EUROsociAL held the “International Workshop on Tax Education Best Practises in the European Union and Latin America” in Mexico City from 21st to 24th October as part of the Strengthening of Tax Education Programmes in Latin America working line being coordinated by the International and Ibero-American Foundation for Administration and Public Policies (FIIAPP).

With the support of the European Union’s EUROsociAL Programme, managed by the FIIAPP, the Mexican National Tax Service (SAT) promoted the creation of Accounting and Tax Support Centres, known as NAFs, in 56 universities across the country. To date, 4,199 citizens have been helped at 183 assistance points in 56 Mexican education institutions across 30 Mexican federal states.

This progress was highlighted in the workshop by Guillermo Valls, General Administrator of Taxpayer Services of the SAT.

The activity brought togetherrepresentatives of the tax and educational administrations from 10 Latin American countries, as well as from Spain, Finland, Denmark, Sweden, Austria and Bulgaria, with the participation of the European Union and the OECD.

NAFs are an experience of the Brazilian tax agency (Federal Revenue). Through this initiative, the SAT is training university students on tax matters and professional ethics so that the students can later, during their practice hours and under the supervision of their professors, advise low-income natural and legal persons free of charge.

The community benefits from the help in resolving basic tax questions, while the SAT fulfils its role of citizen and tax training. The university, for its part, strengthens its link to the community and provides its students with up-to-date practical knowledge about tax matters at no cost.

The procedures that can be carried out in NAFs include: i) enrollment in the taxpayer registry; ii) getting up to date with tax obligations; iii) generation of a password; iv) proprietary tools of the Tax Incorporation Regime (RIF); v) tax advising for physical persons; and vi) orientation on the benefits government agencies can provide to taxpayers under the RIF, the “Crezcamos Juntos” (Let’s Grow Together) programme.