This year there are already 14 federative entities that already have ecological taxesHowever, although these taxes still do not represent a large income, their proliferation will have a gradual impact, Moody’s considered in the report Ecological Taxes in Mexico.
Recalling that the creation of ecological taxes at the state level was endorsed by the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation since 2019, the rating agency estimated that for the next few years the green taxes They are going to become an important source of new income for the subnationals, since it will be more frequent for governments to see that with them they can reduce their dependence on federal transfers.
These instruments, Moody’s stressed, take on greater relevance in a scenario where the federal entities have a limited space for the creation of new collection figures; “In practice, the scope of these taxes will depend on the effective collection capacity and the tax rates.”
It should be noted that the rates applied to collect environmental taxes at the state level they are below international benchmarks, for example, there is the tax for the emission of gases into the atmosphere, its cost in the Mexican states varies between 2 and 31 dollars, while in the state of California in the United States it is They charge at least $31.
For this reason, local governments, in addition to applying a rate policy, require a complete base of taxpayers and efficient measurement and collection mechanisms.
The rating agency explained that these revenues also concentrate great environmental benefits, since they can help combat climate risks, such as droughts, floods, forest fires, among others.
“The proliferation of said taxes applied to activities that range from the emission of gases into the atmosphere to environmental remediation due to extractive or polluting activities, has implied modifications to the fiscal and institutional framework in the sector that will allow states to improve their environmental conditions of gradually, although we expect a limited impact –both credit and ecological– in the short and medium term”, he stressed.
In addition, the generation of additional resources to fund environmental initiatives, with the passage of time will be a more important element for the credit profitability of the states.
The rating agency explained that the 14 states that already apply this type of green tax are Baja California, Campeche, Coahuila, Mexico City, the State of Mexico, Guanajuato, Nuevo León, Oaxaca, Querétaro, Quintana Roo, Sinaloa, Tamaulipas, Yucatan and Zacatecas.
Most of these entities project in their revenue laws that the collection of ecological taxes in 2023 will be less than 0.5% of total revenue.
With greater opportunities
Of 14 states, stand out New Lion (A-.mx stable) and Queretaro (AAA.mx stable) because they have the most ambitious collection projections.
“Both states have regional economies with levels of industrialization above the national average and have been relatively proactive in tax collection policy (…) The ecological taxes of the two states have the potential to further strengthen their own revenues, although we estimate that It will still take time to establish efficient collection practices,” the rating agency reiterated.
Moody’s reported that New Lion has a GDP per capita equivalent to 168% of the national average, its own income has been, on average, equivalent to 25% of operating income between 2019 and 2021. While Querétaro has a GDP per capita of 120% of the national average, own income has been equivalent to 23 percent.
