• CRIMINAL: Under new anti-tax evasion laws, Mexican authorities will begin to prosecute for organized crime offenses -punishable by up to 20 years in jail- those companies that provide or use abusive subcontracting schemes and illegal outsourcing services.
• CONTEXT: Back in October, Mexico’s Congress passed a controversial package of legal changes package that would punish as organized crime some tax fraud offenses along with fake invoicing and the creation of phantom companies. The law was enacted on January 1, 2020.
• SCHEMES: “The reform will punish as organized crime those companies that provide illegal outsourcing because their goal is not to pay social security fees, Infonavit fees (housing-fund contributions)”, said Carlos Romero, an official at Mexico’s Ministry of Finance.
• NUMBERS: Long perceived as a key focus of the López Obrador Administration and its allies in Congress, labor authorities said Wednesday they have records 1,200 companies using illegal subcontracting schemes involving more than 862,000 workers.
