Mexico’s Grupo Salinas Says It Paid US$18.8 Billion in Taxes and Declares Feud Closed

MEXICO · COMPANIES

Grupo Salinas, the Mexican conglomerate of billionaire Ricardo Salinas Pliego, has published official tax receipts showing 319 billion pesos (US$18.8 billion) paid since 2005, presenting the documents as the formal end of its long tax war with Mexico’s government.

What the company put on the table

On August 26 and 27, Grupo Salinas published what it says are official receipts issued by the Servicio de Administración Tributaria, Mexico’s tax authority, known as the SAT.

The documents credit the group’s companies with more than 319 billion pesos (US$18.8 billion) in taxes paid between 2005 and July 2026. The company opened a public website where it says the receipts will be updated every month.

The presentation is a direct answer to years of accusations. “Faced with a permanent campaign of discredit and disinformation about the fiscal commitment of Ricardo Salinas Pliego and his companies, the data is enough,” the group said.

The conglomerate says its firms are among Mexico’s largest taxpayers. It also points to more than 200,000 direct jobs in the country’s formal economy.

Where the big number comes from

The 319-billion-peso figure is cumulative. It adds up every peso the group’s companies say they paid over 21 years, from 2005 to July 2026.

The current year accounts for a growing slice. Preliminary figures put payments from January to July 2026 at 36.6 billion pesos (US$2.16 billion), mixing ordinary tax bills with money owed from closed lawsuits.

More is coming. The group says a further 5.9 billion pesos (US$348 million) linked to litigation settlements will be paid before the year ends, on top of ordinary obligations.

TV Azteca and Elektra, case by case

The clearest closure belongs to TV Azteca, one of Mexico’s two big broadcasters. The company settled 100 percent of its disputed tax liabilities in January 2026, through five payments totaling more than 4 billion pesos (US$236 million).

Grupo Salinas says the presidency publicly acknowledged that payment. The broadcaster’s case had been the most visible front in the feud.

Grupo Elektra, the retail and banking arm, is following a calendar agreed with the tax authority. It has made eight scheduled payments so far, worth more than 13.6 billion pesos (US$802 million), and says it is current.

What the fight was actually about

The group insists it never refused to pay. The litigation, it says, came from technical disagreements over how the law should be read.

Its core argument was double taxation. The companies claimed the SAT tried to tax the same accounting base twice, in operations involving fiscal consolidation and losses on share sales.

Mexico’s federal courts ultimately ruled against that interpretation. Once the judgments became final early this year, the subsidiaries began paying immediately, the group says.

That sequence matters for understanding the announcement. Paying after losing in court is compliance, not generosity, even if the receipts are real.

A very public feud, now declared over

For foreign readers, the context is political. Salinas Pliego spent years in open conflict with former President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who repeatedly named his companies as tax debtors in morning press conferences.

The tycoon answered with lawsuits and a loud social-media campaign against what he called government persecution. The tax cases climbed through Mexican courts for more than a decade.

Under President Claudia Sheinbaum, who took office in October 2024, the tone cooled as the court defeats became final. The payment schedules that followed are now the group’s main public-relations asset.

By publishing SAT receipts, the conglomerate is trying to move the debate onto auditable ground. Whether the tax authority confirms the framing, or adds its own numbers, will show how complete the peace really is.

What to watch

The first checkpoint is the monthly update of the receipts platform. Consistent publication would support the group’s claim of lasting compliance.

The second is the year-end payment of 5.9 billion pesos (US$348 million). Missing it would undercut the entire announcement.

The third is the SAT itself. The tax authority has not matched the company’s publicity with a detailed public accounting of its own, and its silence leaves the group’s narrative unchallenged for now.

Frequently Asked Questions

Sources: Grupo Salinas statement and receipts platform, El CEO, Quadratín, Crónica, Energy21. Exchange rate: US$1 = 16.97 Mexican pesos (August 28, 2026).

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