The new context of statutory interpretation of tax statutes in Mexico
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Description
This dissertation explains how the interpretation of tax law is rule by Article 5 of the Mexican Federal Tax Code and how this article has been interpreted by scholars, tax authorities, taxpayers and courts. Traditionally, the fundamental elements of tax law have been interpreted in a strict form, which means that the interpreter has to find the literal meaning of the statute, no more. Fortunately, this criterion was superseded by Precedent 133/2002 of the Second Courtroom of the Mexican Supreme Court which is the heart of this dissertation and was the culmination of a progressive development in the field of interpretation of tax law by federal courts. In this precedent the court held that even though articles that contemplate the essential elements of a tax are of strict application, those articles could admit other methods of interpretation in order to find their meaning. This crucial criterion has been recently complemented by the same Second Courtroom, through precedent 27/2006, in which clearly states the meaning of 'strict application' and establishes that this concept must be understood not like a strict interpretation or a method of interpretation but as the result of an interpretative activity The dissertation also explains how the cited development of the criterion held by federal courts has been poorly accepted by administrative courts and by Mexican scholars. Tax authorities and tax payers have been accepted this criterion only when it is convenient for their own interests In this work the author studies how the federal courts in USA, especially the American Supreme Court of Justice, interprets tax law and what have been stated by law and by American scholars The author also compares the Mexican and the American juridical system in relation with the interpretation of law and concludes that the differences are not essential; both countries apply the same methods; the difference is that the Mexican system grants a huge deference to the letter of law and the American system to the intention of Congress Finally, the author proposes the amendment of Article 5 of the Federal Tax Code, in order to adopt the existent criteria of the Mexican Supreme Court when interpreting tax statutes