Energy regulation threatens businesses due to volumetric controls

Energy experts have projected the closure of businesses, especially restaurants, due to a new tax regulation that requires companies to register a volumetric control of petroleum products and then report them to the Tax Administration Service (SAT), due to the investment required to complete the registration or face fines.

"Companies that consume more than 5,000 gigajoules of natural gas per year and/or around 908,580 liters per year of liquid fuels such as gasoline, diesel, fuel oil, and LP gas, must report monthly the volumes they receive, store, and consume," warned José Buganza, general director of Enegece.

The tax rule, which will come into force on March 3, 2025, is expected to impact some 6,000 businesses.

Santiago Sala, director of Natural Gas at Enegence, stressed that “the fines are not trivial: failure to have the “Volumetric Controls” would result in prison sentences of up to 8 years, loss of the right to issue invoices to the general public and fines of up to 5.6 million pesos (mdp).

“Errors and omissions carry fines of between almost 40 thousand and 70 thousand pesos for each report omitted or not submitted in a timely manner (remember that the reports are monthly), with several intermediate fines,” said Sala.

For example, if a different octane rating than the real one or a different fuel than the one used is reported, the fines can reach 3.4 million pesos.”

For his part, César Cadena, president of the Nuevo León (NL) Energy Cluster, stressed that businesses such as restaurants do not have the capacity to pay the fines, nor the 150 thousand dollars needed to keep track of volumetric control.

“A medium-sized restaurant consumes it practically. Or a hotel. Restaurants may be the most affected. It's like if I put a volumetric meter in your car. I'm going to control how much you use it. What's it for? I'm going to put it in the station where I control a large number of vehicles. But personally, I don't see the point,” Cadena reflected.

He added that, “that is not useful, it is like we are looking for information that will not be useful to anyone, in the case of natural gas. (The restaurateurs) are in a difficult activity, with a lot of competition, so no, maybe I just quit, and you would leave 13, 14, 15, 20 people without work.”