Sunat: Ruling of the TC would reduce debts by more than 50%

The National Superintendence of Customs and Tax Administration (Sunat) has requested the Constitutional Court (TC) to declare null and void the sentence that responds to the amparo claim filed by the company Maxco SA According to the entity, a precedent has been generated so that large companies stop paying more than S/12,000 million for unpaid tax interest.

“With that decision, the current members of the TC unduly benefited large companies that, together, owe the State more than S/25,000 million in taxesWell, due to that decision, its debt would be reduced by more than 50%, as confirmed by various specialists,” the entity stated as part of the grounds for its request.

The company Maxco sued Sunat and the Tax Court (TF) requesting that the default interest that accrued for non-payment of a tax debt not be applied to it, after the legal term that the TF had to resolve expired. The TC declared the claim inadmissible; however, it established as a binding constitutional precedent that, as of the publication of that sentence, the default interest provided for in the article should not be applied to any tax debtor. article 33 of the Tax Code after expiration of the deadlines at the Sunat, TF and/or Judiciary level.

It draws the entity’s attention that no other company was part of this process or requested the benefit granted by the CTas well as no prior consultation was made, so that before a resolution to the request for annulment they have requested the use of the floor.

One of the companies that would benefit the most from this decision would be Telefónica del Perú, which as of May 2022 registers a debt of S/5,450 million 903,223 and, in January of this year, the Supreme Court announced that the company had to pay around of S/3,000 million to the State referring to Income Tax (IR) for the years 2000 and 2001.

According to the Sunat, The TC has not considered that large companies let the legal deadlines pass without complaint because while their tax debt is contested they cannot be collected. Meanwhile, they use the amount of the debt to generate a greater economic profit for their benefit, to the point that the profitability generated for all those years is greater than what is owed to the State. Along these lines, the former head of the Sunat, Luis Alberto Ariaswas of the opinion that in a tax litigation the time it takes to elucidate the case depends on the actions of the two parties involved in the litigation and not only on the State entities involved.

Approach:

Luis Arias Minaya, Economist and former head of Sunat:

“There are more than 100 companies with tax debts in controversy with Sunat that would benefit retroactively with the forgiveness of interest, according to the ruling of the TC.”