Court RulingTax
Interest on SAT tax refunds: the Supreme Court upholds the five-year cap
If the SAT takes years to refund a tax credit balance, the amount is adjusted for inflation, but interest does not accrue indefinitely. The SCJN upheld the cap in Article 22-A of the Federal Tax Code. What it decided and what you can do to avoid losing money while you wait.
- Published
- October 27, 2026
- Reading time
- 5 minutes
- Case
- Amparo en revisión 124/2026, Full Court of the SCJN
- Provision reviewed
- Federal Tax Code (CFF), Article 22-A, penultimate paragraph
In this article
In this article
5 min · 6 sections
In 2016, a company requested the refund of a value added tax (IVA) credit balance from May 2013. The SAT (Mexican Tax Administration Service) denied it, the company won in court, and the money arrived in October 2024, more than eight years after the application, adjusted for inflation but with interest limited to five years. The company challenged that limit, and the Full Court of the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation (SCJN) sided with the treasury. The ruling matters to exporters, companies in an investment stage, and anyone litigating a refund.
The essentials, in thirty seconds
- The Full Court of the SCJN denied the amparo against the penultimate paragraph of Article 22-A of the CFF: interest payable by the federal treasury may not exceed the interest accrued in the last five years (amparo en revisión 124/2026).
- According to the Court, the cap does not deprive the taxpayer of the credit balance or of its refund: interest after the fifth year never becomes an enforceable right, so there is no indirect expropriation.
- The inflation adjustment is different from interest and has no such cap: it runs from the month of the undue payment or of the return showing the credit balance until the refund is made available to you (CFF, Article 22).
- Each month of waiting beyond five years no longer generates interest. A complete application, timely answers to information requests, and a prompt challenge are what is within your control.
What the Court decided
Article 22-A of the Código Fiscal de la Federación (CFF; Federal Tax Code) requires the authorities to pay interest when they refund a credit balance or an undue payment late. Its penultimate paragraph adds the limit: in no case shall interest payable by the federal treasury exceed the interest accrued in the last five years. The company argued that the cap is an indirect expropriation without compensation and that it treats taxpayers worse than the treasury, whose surcharges may run longer in certain cases.
NoteAmparo en revisión 124/2026
Appeal against the judgment of a district court in Mexico City that denied the amparo (a Mexican constitutional proceeding). The draft, prepared by Justice Lenia Batres Guadarrama, proposed upholding that judgment and denying the amparo; the press reported it was decided at the Full Court session of October 5, 2026.
The Full Court ruled against the company. It distinguished the credit balance, which still belongs to the taxpayer, from interest, an accessory that exists only to the extent the law generates it. If the law itself excludes interest beyond the fifth year, that interest never became part of the company's assets, and there can be no deprivation. On equality, it found that the State as tax collector and the private party are not comparable, and it followed the precedent of the former Second Chamber in amparo en revisión 140/2021.
There is no indirect expropriation because there is no deprivation of the interest after the fifth year, since that interest never became part of the complainant's assets as an enforceable right.
Inflation adjustment and interest: two different concepts
The ruling does not affect the inflation adjustment. Article 22 of the CFF requires the refund to be adjusted under Article 17-A, from the month in which the undue payment was made or the return showing the credit balance was filed until the refund is made available to the taxpayer. The adjustment preserves the value of money against inflation; interest compensates for the delay and is calculated at the surcharge rate of Article 21 on the adjusted refund. The five-year cap applies to interest.
| Item | Purpose | Limit in the CFF |
|---|---|---|
| Credit balance or undue payment | It is the amount that belongs to you | Lost if the obligation to refund becomes time-barred (Articles 22 and 146) |
| Inflation adjustment | Preserves value against inflation | No time cap: until the money is available to you |
| Interest | Compensates for the authority's delay | May not exceed the interest accrued in the last five years (Article 22-A) |
When interest starts to accrue
If the application is complete, the SAT has forty days to make the refund; interest runs from the day after that period expires. The period does not run while you respond to a request for data or documents, and it is suspended if the authority opens a tax review to verify the refund, which must be completed within ninety days or, in certain cases, one hundred eighty. When the refund is denied and later granted by an administrative decision or a court judgment, Article 22-A sets the starting point: for credit balances, from the denial or from the expiration of the period, whichever occurs first. If the SAT does not pay the interest, or pays less, that right is deemed denied.
What you can do to avoid losing money while you wait
- File a complete application
With your e.firma (advanced electronic signature), the attachments the SAT requires, and a CLABE bank account in your name. An incorrect account suspends the refund period (CFF, Article 22-B), and an address that cannot be located means the application is deemed not filed.
- Answer information requests on time
The SAT may request information within twenty days after the application; you have twenty days to comply and ten for a second request. If you do not respond, you are deemed to have withdrawn the application and the wait starts over.
Deadline: 20 days, and 10 for the second
- Review the refund decision
Check the inflation adjustment and the date from which interest was calculated. A shortfall amounts to a partial denial that can be challenged.
- Challenge without delay
A total or partial denial may be challenged through the administrative appeal for revocation or an annulment action before the TFJA (Federal Court of Administrative Justice), both within thirty days after notice takes effect. Every year of litigation counts, because interest will not exceed five years.
Deadline: 30 days
The credit balance, its inflation adjustment, and up to five years of interest remain enforceable; what changes is the economics of a long dispute. If your refund has been in dispute for years, it is worth estimating the interest that can no longer be recovered and choosing the fastest route. At R&A Asociados we review refund applications, refund decisions, and defense strategies in tax matters.
Frequently asked questions
Can the SAT keep my credit balance if it takes more than five years?
Not for that reason. The Court distinguished the credit balance, which still belongs to the taxpayer, from interest. The cap only limits interest. What can extinguish the right is the statute of limitations on the obligation to refund, which runs on the same terms as a tax assessment (five years) and is interrupted by the refund application, unless you withdraw it.
Is the inflation adjustment also limited to five years?
No. Article 22 of the CFF requires the refund to be adjusted from the month of the undue payment or of the return showing the credit balance until the money is available to you. The cap in Article 22-A refers to interest.
What happens if the SAT refunds the balance but pays no interest?
Article 22-A deems the right to interest denied, in whole or in part, when the authority does not pay it or pays a lower amount. That denial can be challenged through the administrative appeal for revocation or an annulment action, within thirty days after notice takes effect.
Does the ruling apply to individuals and to nonresidents?
Article 22-A does not distinguish between individuals and legal entities: it applies to every refund of credit balances or undue payments owed by the federal treasury. If you have a credit balance in Mexico, including if you reside abroad, the five-year interest cap applies to you.
Official sources
This article was prepared from the texts published by the authorities. We recommend consulting them directly.
- SCJNDraft judgment in amparo en revisión 124/2026 (Full Court; drafting justice: Lenia Batres Guadarrama) (opens the source's website)Draft published by the SCJN; background, merits analysis, and operative paragraphs.
- DiputadosCódigo Fiscal de la Federación (Federal Tax Code) (opens the source's website). Current text, last amended DOF, April 9, 2026. Articles 17-A, 21, 22, 22-A, 22-B, 22-D, 121, and 146.
- DiputadosLey Federal de Procedimiento Contencioso Administrativo (Federal Law on Contentious Administrative Procedure) (opens the source's website). Current text, last amended DOF, June 9, 2026. Article 13: thirty-day period to file the claim.
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TopicsRefunds · Tax credit balance · Interest · SCJN · Federal Tax Code · IVA
