Home / Energy & industrial / Mexican VAT refunds
Accounting & tax · Oil and gas
Mexican VAT refunds for oil and gas contractors
During exploration and development, a Mexican contractor pays VAT on every operator billing and has almost no output VAT to offset it. The credit balance grows every month. That is working capital the parent company does not get back unless each refund claim is filed with the right support.
Where refunds get stuck
Support that doesn't reconcile
In a joint venture, creditable VAT comes from the operator's billings, not from the partner's own invoices. If each CFDI does not tie to what was actually paid, SAT issues an information request.
Partial payments to the operator
VAT becomes creditable when it is paid. When a cash call is partially paid, the payment has to be allocated line by line, with proof.
Poorly answered information requests
Each request suspends the refund term. An incomplete response ends in a denial and forces a new filing or litigation.
Periods nobody filed
The government's obligation to refund expires after five years (Articles 22 and 146 of the Federal Tax Code). Old balances with no claim are lost.
From the reported balance to the deposit
Size the universe
Period by period: reported balance, amounts already claimed, amounts pending and statute-of-limitations risk. The result is a real number, not an optimistic estimate.
Workpapers built from CFDI invoices
We rebuild creditable VAT directly from stamped invoices and operator billings, reconciled against payments. Every peso in the workpaper has its invoice.
Complete refund file
Filing letter, schedules, legal representation, tax compliance opinion and bank account, organized for SAT's electronic refund system. We check every receipt against what was filed.
Follow-up until the deposit
Tracking of every claim, information request, response, resolution and deposit, with a dashboard in English and Spanish for management and partners.
Who we help
- U.S. parent companies that need to see, in English, how much VAT their Mexican subsidiary has tied up and when it comes back.
- Contractors and non-operating partners in Mexican license or production-sharing contracts.
- Oilfield service companies with recurring VAT credit balances in Mexico.
- Companies that already have a local accounting firm but carry denied or unfiled periods.
A workpaper per period with its support, a refund file ready for SAT, tracking of information requests and deadlines, and a collections dashboard in English and Spanish.
Frequently asked questions
Does each joint venture partner file its own refund?
Yes. Each partner credits and claims the VAT that corresponds to its working interest, supported by the joint venture's invoices and payments. That is why reconciliation with the operator is the foundation of the file.
How long does a Mexican VAT refund take?
Article 22 of the Federal Tax Code sets a general term of 40 business days from filing, suspended while an information request is being answered. In practice, what shortens the timeline most is a file that does not trigger requests.
Can balances from prior years be recovered?
It depends on the period. The refund obligation expires after five years, but certain collection actions interrupt that term. We review each period before committing to an amount.
Can you work alongside our current accounting firm?
Yes. We can handle only the refunds and leave bookkeeping and monthly filings where they are, with an information flow agreed in writing.
Can you report to our U.S. headquarters?
Yes. Follow-up is delivered in English and Spanish, with figures reconciled to the subsidiary's financial statements.
Mexican VAT credit tied up?See how much cash is stuck in your Mexican entity, what it costs and how ready the refund file is.
Use the calculatorSee it workingOpen the demo with illustrative data: this is what the dashboard we deliver looks like.
See the demoHow much VAT does your Mexican subsidiary have tied up?
Send us the periods with credit balances and we will tell you what can be recovered, the risk on each one and the order in which to file.