Good morning. How are you? Well, very well. Ready for the second tour. Today we have Tamaulipas and Veracruz. Tomorrow we will be in Tuxtla Gutiérrez, Chiapas, in Oaxaca and in Campeche, and then on Saturday in Yucatán and Quintana Roo. And on Sunday we have September 13th, the Altar to the Fatherland, the Niños Héroes, and then we will go to Hidalgo after the ceremony. So let's go with our second tour, honesty and results. Well, today, as we discussed yesterday, we are going to talk about some facilities and benefits for micro and small businesses, both those that were included in the package and some additional actions to support them from the IMSS and the Secretariat of Labor. This is a dialogue we have had with different chambers, for example with Canaco, which had several dialogues. Both the Secretary of Finance, the director of the IMSS, the Secretary of Labor, and the SAT were talking with a group of micro and small businesses from Caintra, from Monterrey, well, from Nuevo León, and also with different chambers. There were several requests they made about long, cumbersome procedures and the costs they represent for micro and small businesses. So what we are going to present today are facilities. So first I will give the floor to Antonio, the head of the Tax Administration Service, then to Zoé Robledo, director of the IMSS, then to Marat, Secretary of Labor, and then to Carlos Torres from Nafin. Go ahead, Tony.
Thank you. Good morning to everyone. With your permission, President. Today we are going to present some benefits and simplification for micro and small businesses. Next slide, please. First of all, the classification according to the Ministry of Economy of Micro and Small Business has to do with the sector, the range of number of workers, and annual sales. Microenterprise: up to 4 million with 10 workers and all sectors of the economy. And small: commerce, industry, and services, from 11 to 50 workers and from 4.01 million to 100 million pesos. Next slide. The package sent to Congress regarding the simplification of micro and small businesses for tax purposes is as follows. Where do we currently place micro businesses and individuals in this category? Currently there are 4,178,276 taxpayers, both individuals and micro businesses. And here the main requirement is that they have annual income of up to 3.5 million pesos. For individuals, the main activities are business, professional, and rental. And for micro businesses, they can be tortillerías, workshops, restaurants, grocery stores, and the primary sector is also here. Next slide, please. The simplified trust regime for medium-sized enterprises. Currently we have a registry of 254,278. And what is the income limit? 35 million pesos. Some of the requirements are that this medium-sized enterprise be constituted by individuals who are residents of Mexico, and the main sectors are wholesale trade, retail trade, construction, professional, scientific, and technical services, among others. Next slide, please. Now, what is the proposal and what are the benefits for individuals? The income limit is increased from 3.5 to 5 million pesos, and specifically for the primary sector, the income exempt from income tax will be increased. Currently it is at 900,000, 1,000, it will go to 1 million pesos. Also, the option of quarterly income tax payments instead of monthly payments is being offered, and taxpayers who have not filed their monthly payments will be able to pay in installments without leaving this regime and without going to the general regime. This is support for all individuals and all micro businesses. For enterprises, the income limit will go from 35 to 50 million, and in the calculation of income tax, the depreciation rates for the main expenses these enterprises have will be doubled: computer equipment, vehicles, the expenses enterprises use for their activity. Now, for both individuals and enterprises, and it is optional, there is something very important because VAT accounting will be eliminated if they opt for this payment, which is a direct payment of 7% of the VAT rate. And finally, both income tax and VAT will be paid in a single return. And this is...
I'm going to interrupt you. Of course, Tony. Micro and small businesses pay VAT, like any enterprise, they pay VAT and then they have a period to recover part of the VAT. That requires accounting. That is how it is, that is the type of tax and how part of the VAT is returned to enterprises, because it is on value added. So as value is added, it is paid, and there is a part that is deducted. Small businesses told us that it takes them a long time to do all the accounting for the recovery of that VAT. So, Antonio, what the SAT proposes to them is: if you want to stay with that regime right now, that's fine, but if not, there is an option: pay 7% VAT and that's it. How was that 7% arrived at? It is the average of what micro and small businesses normally pay, between what is paid and what is recovered. So this option is very good because you decide whether you want to pay the 7% and no longer do any additional accounting, or stay as before, pay the VAT and then do the accounting for the VAT recovery. Go ahead.
And finally, these benefits are very good for individuals, for micro businesses, and for small businesses, and we estimate that this registry could increase by 1.6 million more taxpayers to be included, both for individuals, for micro, and for small businesses. Thank you.
Here. Thank you, President. Thank you. Good morning to everyone. Thank you, President. Good morning. As the President has mentioned, from this dialogue and the listening with the different chambers and micro-entrepreneurs, it was identified which procedures mean for them more time or more resources in hiring accountants and others, and that they should be dedicating to generating more value for their businesses. We are talking, as I have already mentioned, about enterprises with up to 10 workers. Currently there are 665,000 employer registrations at the IMSS with these characteristics. That is why we are presenting this administrative simplification, which has a lot to do with digitizing procedures and also with permanent support for these procedures and facilitating the relationship with social security, that is, faster, simpler procedures without the need to go to offices, without so much hassle. And we are presenting eight. The first is for new micro businesses, for someone who is going to start a business; registering this business will be simpler. Previously, a form had to be filled out to register an employer registration with the capture of 80 different information fields, that is, 80 spaces where some information had to be filled in, and much of that information is already in the SAT's RFC. So we are making this interconnection so that only the 14 essential fields are needed in case those are not available. For example, what are the essential fields? The economic activity, or sometimes the address, if the address of the work center is different from the tax address, but it would only be those 14 fields. The second is this integrated contribution or integrated payment so that from a single point the payment formats for both taxes and social security contributions can be downloaded without needing to enter several portals to make the download. This is being worked on with the SAT, it is a project we are going to have ready in November of this year, but it is the first time that the systems of both institutions, the SAT and the IMSS, are interconnected. The next is simplified affiliation movements, something enterprises do all the time, which are registrations and deregistrations of workers or salary changes. What we are also doing is that when a person is hired, when the labor relationship with a worker ends, or when the salary of a worker changes, the movement can be carried out from a digital space designed especially for micro businesses, without the need for an intermediary, and without the need to go to an IMSS sub-delegation. The fourth is the digital determination of the work risk insurance premium. Enterprises are constantly calculating and sending to the IMSS what the Work Risk Insurance premium is. However, for micro businesses this meant a procedure just like a large work center, perhaps with hundreds or thousands of workers. That is why the proposal is that this procedure, which always occurs in February, micro businesses should not present it, that they can not present the annual determination of this February premium, which is related above all to work accidents, and also to have a lot of support on work accident prevention issues. The next is the digital employer identification card, the TIP. This is for micro businesses, but also for small and medium ones. Previously there was a physical document, the employer identification card, that had to be presented for each procedure at the offices, at the IMSS sub-delegations. And also when it was lost, damaged, destroyed, or any change had to be made. For example, the change of legal representative, the change of address, it had to be presented again. So now it is a 100% digital document, there is no longer a need to go to replace it at the sub-delegations, it is a document obtained through the IMSS mailbox and that does not require going to a sub-delegation. I insist, this is for all enterprises. The sixth is one of the topics we discussed the most with micro-entrepreneurs and also with small businesses, which is the reactivation of the registration through the IMSS mailbox. Previously, reactivating an employer registration meant many requirements depending on where it was requested, waiting times that could reach up to two or three months. This implied many complaints from employers on a recurring basis. That is why, starting this year, the process changes and now the reactivation will have much simpler requirements and the same procedure will be applied throughout the country, that is, a standardized procedure that will allow shortening waiting times. I insist, this is for all enterprises and work is being done so that by the end of the year the entire procedure is through the IMSS mailbox. And the next one is the digital payment format. Currently employers can download from the IMSS mailbox the payment proposals for the employer-employee contributions of their workers. Starting in October they will be able to consult everything, that is, how this proposal is made up, since the detail of each of the workers will be included in the same document. Today only the amount to pay is displayed, and starting in October the amount corresponding to each of the workers will be broken down with name, surname, and contribution, and that will greatly facilitate the way the payment amount of the contributions is determined. And finally, what we have been presenting and insisting on is the IMSS mailbox, that is, digital and virtual support during the entire first year for micro businesses when they start their activities, and to adopt a much more preventive approach. That is, we are not proposing a year without oversight for micro businesses, and being in permanent contact to prevent before sanctioning, having spaces for guidance, support for employers, in order to know how to easily comply with their obligations in social security matters, and to explain step by step how to register, how to calculate and pay the contributions, and keep the information of their workers updated, with virtual assistants and telephone centers. We want to make compliance easier and easier. In summary, President, to everyone, it is about reducing procedures, reducing lines, reducing times, so that micro businesses can dedicate themselves to their work and to growing our country's economy. Thank you very much.
Good morning. With your permission, President. The Secretariat of Labor and Social Welfare, following the instructions of our President, is promoting, precisely in this plan of simplification and facilitation of all procedures for micro and small businesses, a new strategy for reducing procedures and administrative matters related to the registration of specialized service providers and specialized works, better known as Repse, with the objective of facilitating compliance with the subcontracting reform, particularly for these micro and small businesses. The simplification is focused on enterprises that have a registration of 10 workers or up to 10 workers, and with this we are seeking to benefit nearly 18,000 economic units that are about to renew their registration in this Repse. With this simplification we are going from eight procedures that previously had to be done to achieve these registrations or renewals, and now it will be done through a single procedure, which is basically to fill out the form that is on the Repse page itself. And finally, well, just making this registration through the e-firma itself, which, as both the head of the SAT and the IMSS have already explained, from the e-firma we can already have the information directly from the SAT, IMSS, and Infonavit records, and thus save a lot of time in the procedures. Again, we are going from eight to a single requirement, and with that we are also going to give a boost to the responses that have to be given for the results of this Repse registration, going from 20 days that we normally took to respond to it, now to only 5 business days. What do we want with this? Well, that there is a commitment to simplify them, to reduce the administrative burdens for these economic units and thus facilitate compliance with the regulations, especially for these enterprises. And well, without further ado, President, that is all.
With your permission, President. Next I am going to share what we are doing from Nacional Financiera and the National Foreign Trade Bank for micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises. Nafin and Bancomex are development banking institutions of the Mexican government whose objective is to encourage more businesses, from the smallest ones, to have access to financing. This in alliance with a large network of financial institutions throughout the country. We are convinced that credit should not be seen as an expense, but as a means to grow a business. For example, we promote credits for businesses in the process of consolidation. Go ahead, please. These can be up to 500,000 pesos with a term of 3 years. There is also my first credit for micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises that have never received a bank credit. This can reach up to 5 million pesos with a term of up to 5 years. In coordination with the trust fund for electricity savings FIDE, we offer the eco-credit so that MSMEs can replace equipment that consumes a lot of energy with more modern and efficient ones. We are talking about refrigerators, solar panels and heaters, or air conditioners, to name a few. The savings in energy consumption also helps cover the cost of the credit, which is charged directly on the CFE electricity bill and can be covered in a term of up to 5 years. And we also have the business credit for more consolidated SMEs that are looking to expand. At Nafin, this credit can reach up to 20 million pesos, with which companies can invest in working capital or fixed assets. And at Bancomex, this credit can reach up to 30,000 million pesos or its equivalent in dollars, with a term of up to 15 years, aimed at exporting companies, those that substitute imports or that work with foreign currency, as is the case of the tourism sector, among others. It is important to highlight that for businesses led by women or that are within the sectors of the Mexico Plan, better conditions are offered in this type of credit. We accompany businesses at every stage of their development, providing training, advice, and free tools that allow them to organize better, specialize, and access new growth opportunities. We have courses on financial inclusion, entrepreneurship, business strengthening, and foreign trade to manage a business's finances, improve its administration, increase its sales to sell online, or learn what is required to export. All of this is already reflected in results. So far in this administration and with the support of the financial sector, we have granted more than 112,000 credits for an amount close to 315,000 million pesos, and we have also delivered more than 50,000 hours of free training. It is important to mention that we have courses in eight indigenous languages, with the conviction that the creativity and greatness of our native peoples makes us unique in the world. I take this opportunity to invite all interested people to contact us at the numbers 800 Nafinza and 800 Exporta. We are ready to accompany you so that your ideas and ventures make history. President, from Bancomex and Nafin we will remain committed to your vision, that development banking be close, be active, and reach where it is needed most. Thank you very much.
Well, brief and concise, but very important, no less important for that. These are the supports, the simplifications for the micro and small business of our country. Well, let's go to the questions. Let's see, who, who, who is here? Let's see, the colleague from Veracruz, taking advantage that we are going to Veracruz.
Thank you very much, President. Olga Ojeda, correspondent for Diario de la Imagen de Veracruz of the Imagen del Golfo corporate group. President, if you will allow me, and taking advantage that the Secretary of Finance is here, I will sit down for the ride. Recently it was announced the cancellation of 63 customs broker licenses due to irregularities, as was commented here, operational ones and their alleged connection with smuggling schemes and fiscal fuel theft. Veracruz, as you know, is a strategic entity for Mexico's foreign trade as it houses three of the country's most important ports, which are Tuxpan, Coatzacoalcos, and Veracruz. For this reason, to make this operation transparent, many of the companies or individuals engaged in foreign trade would like to know, we don't know if the list of these cancelled licenses will be made public, they have already been notified, but if it will be made public so that in the logistics and operation of foreign trade at these ports it is known who they are, and not to end up making operations with these brokers who are not authorized. In some cases there are administrative proceedings, that is, the license is cancelled, but as Mexican laws are, they have the right to request a review and even go to the Administrative Tribunal or even to the Court, if it does not proceed. So many of them are in proceedings, which is why they cannot be made public, but they were notified, and those who were their clients, let's say, through this customs agency already know that at this moment they are not in operation. Thank you very much, President. On the other hand, in Veracruz, you know, the state government has already reported that it was able to reverse the closure of the San Pedro sugar mill, right? With the help of your government, avoiding a serious crisis that would be caused by the loss of thousands of direct and indirect jobs in a region of several municipalities. At the time, the businessmen mentioned that the closure was due to lack of profitability, and people involved in the sugarcane sector pointed out that the smuggling of sugar from Central America is hurting the national industry. It was also reported that finally the company will lay off the employees and return the sugar mill to the federation so that it is administered by the state. I would like to ask you, President, how the smuggling of sugar from Central America is being combated, and whether you have measured, identified this issue as a serious problem, and whether you can confirm whether the federation will indeed cede the sugar mill to the state government and how the mechanism will work.
Well, there are several issues. The first, we have had several meetings with the sugar industry. These are meetings where the representatives of the sugarcane growers participate, directly the workers and the sugar mills, if not all, the representativeness of the sugar mills, and in some cases the governors, for example, the governor of Colima, for Colima sugarcane production is very important, Veracruz, Tamaulipas, right? Nayarit, sorry, Morelos. So in some cases the governors also participate. This year something very important was achieved, which is to increase the export quota of sugarcane, sorry, of sugar to the United States. The United States in the last 4 years reduced from 1 million tons to 150,000. So we recovered 1.1 million tons as exports. This is very good because the sugar produced in our country is much more than Mexico's demand. So if everything stays in the national market, the price of sugar drops a lot and everyone is affected, from the worker who plants and harvests to the sugar mills. So recovering the export quota was very good. There Julio Verdegué helped us a lot, obviously Secretary of Economy, and also Columba. So we have meetings with them. They also informed us about this issue of the entry of smuggled sugar from Central America, and several measures were taken for the customs offices in the south of the country, even inspections with the National Guard at different points together with the Secretariat of Agriculture and Rural Development. In particular this sugar mill in Veracruz. What was achieved first, thanks to the intervention of the governor, is that indeed at the closure the workers are given what corresponds to them. That is very important. And second, the objective is that the sugar mill continues working. It is not yet decided whether the state government will take it over, which is a possibility, or the workers themselves through a cooperative, or if some other sugar mill is interested in acquiring it. That process is underway, and if any of the three cases occurs, they have to enter a market scheme, it is not something where this sugar mill will be particularly subsidized. If they do not enter the market process and the supports, we have, for example, all the sugarcane producers now received Producción para el Bienestar, which they did not receive before, and some other supports, but they would have to enter this scheme. So Rosalía and the Secretary of SADER are talking to see what the best options are. The idea is that jobs are not lost, which are very important, because it is not only those who work in the sugar mill, but all the workers who produce the sugarcane. Thank you very much. And to finish, President, in Xalapa you were. Well, we have to remember that the sugar mills also have another very complex history in the country. The sugar mills belonged to the Mexican state, then they were privatized, they had to be rescued, they were re-privatized again in the Fox era. A second privatization came, and unfortunately some, but others work with the same equipment from 60 years ago, that is, there has been no renewal of the equipment, and we are working to improve different actions both in irrigation and in improving sugarcane production, and the sugar mills themselves have to invest. And thank you very much. In collectives of mothers of Veracruz, of search in the northern zone of the state of Veracruz, they have expressed to our media that for them and search families there is a very important emotional wear in each DNA test, in the entities they have to go to, and they would like there to be a national database, because without a database, a bank, sorry, of data in which all the federal entities converge, to make this comparison of samples, the genetic samples between relatives, it is very, very exhausting. So I would like to ask you if there is any project or if some joint strategy of your government with the states is being worked on to speed up this process for relatives of disappeared persons, and if you see this proposal of a national genetic bank as viable to avoid this emotional wear of which...
Yes, remember that the Secretariat of the Interior presented here 10 points on which work is being done for the crime of disappearance. One of them is precisely forensics, because there are still people who died who are not identified in different states of the Republic. This is essentially a task of the states, but that does not mean we say it is theirs and not ours, but the Attorney General's Office is taking this case together with the Search Commission. It has its characteristics because the DNA, that is, for there to be DNA identification, if there is only one of the parents, or let's say the mother is there but the father is not, identification is more difficult, there has to be a greater identification. So what the Secretariat of the Interior has been doing together with the Attorney General's Office and the state Attorney General's Offices is to first make a single database, because there are several that are in the Attorney General's Office, although it has been required by law for some time, and the DNA bank is also in the law. So many times the sample of the relatives is taken, but there is a part that is doing the DNA analysis or the analysis of the sample to be able to have the DNA information. That part is delayed in the states. So the objective is that there are more resources from the federal entities and from the Attorney General's Office, with the company of the state search commissions and the search commission, so that it can really be a bank and all identity processes are accelerated, which is very important because until now there are, and in some cases there is not even a fingerprint and recognition of the person by dentition or by other circumstances. So yes, it is very important that there is a national DNA bank and that there can really be the comparison based on the latest advances in science. Thank you very much, President. Just for a last comment, if you somehow had or have had information from the Attorney General's Office or if anything else has come out about the case of the Veracruz congressman.
The Attorney General's Office has to inform you, they already have some results and they will inform you. Thank you very much. Good day to everyone. By the way, our condolences to the family and to all the friends, colleagues. Well, go ahead. Let's see, well, let's see, I think I had already given you the floor.
Thank you, President. Máximo Allende from Subjetivo MX on the topic. You said that they are for individuals, that in the last table you said they are micro businesses or individuals. So you said that there are micro businesses, but that they register as individuals with business activity. Yes. And up on the screen it said RESICO, that is, many of us who dedicate ourselves to social media and to this, well, we prefer the RESICO regime to the other regime because it is easier to keep the accounting. The VAT payment is a whole issue because effectively doing the calculation, entering the invoices and so on is a whole issue. I understand that with this 7% it would be a generalized 7% for all of us who are in RESICO and that we would no longer have to be doing this monthly invoicing, simply an automatic charge would be made, you earn so much and automatically the ISR that reaches up to 2.3% and the VAT that will be capped at 7% would be charged. Is that correct?
Yes, the maximum rate is 2.5%. There is no annual return, it is a monthly return, and the monthly return will be the payment of the income tax, and there will also come the VAT payment, which will be 7%. But it is optional, there will be people who do want to do their accounting and credit and accrue the VAT. And in that case, there would also be no refunds if you acquire the 7% of... Exactly. That is why it is optional. There will be taxpayers who have another type of treatment and that is why they will want to continue doing it as it is at the moment and keep their accounting, but optionally, and if you no longer keep it there will be no refund because the 7% is what is fair and what will have to be paid.
Of course. President, I continue with two more questions on this topic of taxes and finances, because, let's say, the detractors of social programs, both media outlets and opponents, now point out that there is a 0.6% increase in the amount of social programs. This is more than a trillion pesos. And although, well, those of us who study public policy know that the universality of programs is desirable to mitigate the clientelistic effects of social programs. However, they continue to allude, despite the fact that most social programs are universal, that this increase is due to the 2027 election and also, well, that social programs are to win electoral favors. What do you think about this?
False. First, the Constitution establishes programs and also establishes that there must be an increase above inflation, inflation and a little more. So we are complying with what the Constitution says. The programs that represent the most resources, such as the elderly pension or high school scholarships or middle school scholarships, are universal. In the case of scholarships, it is for those who study in public schools, but the elderly pension, which represents more than 500,000 million pesos and which is received by all adults aged 65 and over, could not be clientelistic because everyone receives it, even Sarmiento and Cuadri and probably others. I say this because it came out on social media, simply. So it is universal. Nobody is asked what party you belong to, what party you are going to vote for. Nothing, nothing. Simply they register for the program and at a certain established time, 2 months, 3 months, they go again for their Bienestar card and two months later it is deposited to them, like that for life, to all the elderly. So it makes no clientelistic sense. Before, social programs were indeed clientelistic programs, hunger, all these had to go register, had to be going permanently and they were oriented to vote for a political party. Now they are universal programs and there are others that are not universal, but they are oriented to certain areas. For example, Sembrando Vida. Sembrando Vida. Most of its beneficiaries are from Chiapas, Oaxaca, and Tabasco, because it is the area of greatest deforestation and the forest mass has to be recovered, and it has to do not only with planting timber or fruit trees, but also that they can have support to plant their milpa for self-consumption. So it is false that they are used for a voting matter. By the way, I have to be careful because today the electoral process time begins, so we have to be careful about what is said, because I can be sanctioned.
President, there are those who in fact call them handouts and the worst, the truth is they call them crumbs. To those who receive, to the beneficiaries of the programs, it has been given in a new table that there are of old, old ones in a new table, or old commentators in a new table, and they have talked a lot about the scholarships.
When I was head of government, when I arrived in the city, there was a scholarship. That scholarship was given only to those who had a 9 average in primary and middle school. We did a study of the impact of that scholarship and what we found is that supposedly the objective was that all girls and boys would want to have a 9 and 10 average to have the scholarship as a reward for good grades. But in reality what happened was a notable difference in the classroom because they were the good students, in quotes, and the bad students, in quotes, those who had the scholarship and those who did not. And so a division was generated in the schools whose only effect was to minimize, to discriminate against those who did not have the scholarship and who were bad students, instead of promoting good grades. So there we made the decision to make the scholarship universal, a resource that is not much in effect, but that helps the mothers, the fathers, the girls, the boys to have the minimum indispensable for school. Normally there are expenses, school is free, public school is free, but there are expenses that families incur, that you have to buy several pairs of shoes a year, not just one pair. Which are also sneakers, which are also the conference that the student has to give, in short, several expenses. So the idea is that those expenses are also supported so that everyone is even at school, so that there is no difference. In the city government what happened is that the grades of all the children increased and also, let's say, the self-esteem of the girls and boys in the sense of recognizing themselves and education as something very important for them. Even poverty was reduced at those ages. So all the indicators showed that it was better to give the scholarships. President López Obrador gave a scholarship in high school. That, by the way, is a program that Marcelo Ebrard started when he was head of government of the city. He made Prepa Sí, it's called. So high school was already a scholarship. Good results. The President took it from there and included it in his government program, even from 2006 when he was a candidate until he came to government and decided to promote the universal Benito Juárez scholarship for all public high school students, and it had very good results. It reduced dropout. And also the young people were able to acquire, maybe they saved and bought a computer, or I happened to see in the tour that I recount in the book of the historical transition, how a young man approached him and said, "Thank you, thank you, big head." I thank President López Obrador because I was able to buy a motorcycle and now I can go to school every day. So it can be the bimester expense or they save to be able to buy something that helps their studies. They criticize that they use it for beer, they use it for cigarettes, they use it. It is absurd, because that is not believing in Mexican youth or in Mexican families. So we decided to make it universal in middle school, the Becarita CETINA, and in primary school we now give support for school supplies and uniforms. And I think I already said it here, but I recounted it now in the tours. The gratitude of the mothers and fathers is impressive, because for the first time they can buy everything for their children so that they can go to school well, because we must not forget what the average salary in the country is and the minimum wage, which although it has increased, reaches for two basic baskets or 1.9, almost two basic baskets. So they are welfare programs and in the educational case they help a lot. By the way, ask Mariano, I asked him to make a summary of all the good things that the OECD reports about the New Mexican School, because now there is this criticism that the PISA test and that education in Mexico is terrible, and no, we have already said that the PISA test has its problems, but even in that condition there is a very great recognition of education in Mexico. Let's see if he sends it to you so that we can read one by one all the benefits that the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development reports about the New Mexican School, which has to do with the care of girls, boys, and young people. The report even says that more young people want to participate in the PISA test, and that means that more people are studying, particularly in upper secondary, which is one of the programs we have promoted and that is reinforced with the Benito Juárez scholarship that López Obrador started. So this idea that the scholarships ask nothing of the student, well, that they be enrolled and that they pass the year, that yes, but it is not by grade, no, because that seems to be fine, but no, on the contrary, it generated a very pernicious situation in the schools.
President, taking advantage of the presence of the Secretary of Finance, I would like to ask you, because after the Reform War and the separation of the state from the church, well, it is still not clear to us. Your objective. We want to make a more extensive proposal next week, if possible, about the expenditure budget, but it is not clear to us what VAT or ISR payment the churches in Mexico make. That is, I understand that the tithe is exempt from tax payment, but well, we all pay taxes, President, in the Mexican state. And I understand that the clergy does not contribute to the government coffers.
You are getting into more, Tonio. Indeed, no tax is charged, right? Tax. Just describe it.
Well, we have a list of authorized donors, among them there are always non-governmental organizations and non-profit entities, and in this case the churches of various types go to the SAT, deliver their information, and with that they would no longer be subject to tax payment.
Would you consider at some point... I'm going to get into that. Yes. Finally, President, I close with this question. In a new audio revealed by Clarín, Fernando Cerimedo is heard narrating. I put it on the table because it is a topic that has gained relevance in this space. Fernando Cerimedo is heard narrating a complaint against his partner Javier Negre, whom he describes as a mercenary worse than him. The narcopartner of La Derecha Diario, Fernando Cerimedo, also a partner of Salinas Pliego, stated in a conversation with Nadia Beller, his wife, prior to the attack, that Negre got him into trouble with you because he paid for the broken plates of the insults that Negre makes against you, President. He then concludes the conversation assuring that La Derecha Diario is a failed business, that is, that La Derecha Diario does not leave much money at the end of the year. The relevant thing about this new audio released by the Argentine newspaper is that it shows how among the partners themselves they hit each other, insult each other, disqualify each other, and well, Mr. Cerimedo already had intentions to sell La Derecha Diario prior to attempting to kill his pregnant wife in Bolivia. However, the transaction was not completed until three days later. And this conversation where he blames you, President, for charging Cerimedo the bill for the insults or the outbursts that he makes...
Javier Negre, well, reveals a lot about the kind of partners that some Mexican businessmen, including Alina Pliego, have with this La Derecha Diario. Do you have any comment on this?
I haven't heard the audio; I would have to listen to it to be able to give a more informed opinion, to know exactly what the audio says and to have an opinion on it. As we have mentioned several times, La Derecha Diario was created to influence elections in different countries in Latin America through mechanisms of money they received from different places to promote schemes for spreading fake news on social media and to increase these fake news stories or denigrations of a person, so that whoever sees social media would think that millions of people are against something when in reality it is all completely bought, in addition to possible direct interventions in elections that have been denounced in some places.
What is relevant about this? They themselves call themselves La Derecha Diario, meaning it is a right-wing newspaper that promotes right-wing people through quite murky mechanisms and people, one of whom was arrested today for attempted femicide of her partner, and from there have come the links they had even with United States agencies. So it is important that this be known, it is very relevant because they, as I have shown here, spent half their time denigrating the president of Mexico, and it turns out that all of this is quite murky, right? So it is relevant that it be known, very relevant, and that it continue. Well, now with this audio we will listen to it and then we can give our opinion.
Thank you, President. Let's go to this side. Let's see, the PISA thing. Let's see.
But he had a... this is just... he had a document where he explained why. Let's see if he has it around here. Ah, well, look, here it is. Let's see, lend it to me.
Look, between 2015 and 2025, what does the PISA test say about Mexican education, or the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development? The number of 15-year-olds eligible to take the PISA test grew faster than the total 15-year-old population in Mexico. More young people are studying, that is a recognition. Two, this means that enrollment in secondary education increased steadily and that the results are partly related to the integration of more young people from marginalized contexts into the school system. Less inequality. In science, the gap between advantaged and disadvantaged students is smaller than the OECD average. Mexico 68 points, OECD average 85 points. For all those who say that even what the PISA test says is terrible for Mexico, isn't that right? 82% of students ask their teachers for help when they need it in Mexico. This speaks to what the national teaching corps is, what the teachers of Mexico are. OECD average 77%. That is, 5% more.
86% turn to their classmates when they don't fully understand something. The solidarity, the support among the students themselves. OECD average 82%. Go ahead. In science, 81% of students reported that teachers show interest in each student's learning. OECD average 69%.
77% reported that the teacher keeps teaching until students understand. OECD average 66%. 82% of Mexican students reported that the teacher provides additional help when students need it. OECD average 73%. Let's go. 80% of students feel curious about many different things. Education is not memorization. Education is learning how to learn. OECD average 73%. We are seven points above the OECD average. 76% of students reported making an extra effort when tasks become challenging. OECD average 66%, 10 points less. Only 11% agree or strongly agree that school has been a waste of time, a decrease of 2.7% from 2022 to 2025. OECD average 24%, more than double.
I think there is another... attitudes of students toward school and learning. Students who perceive greater value in school tend to score higher in science, 22 points higher than their peers. Andreas Schleicher, well, I don't know how to pronounce it, Schleicher, director of education and skills at the OECD, highlighted that these attitudes and skills will be crucial for the future. Students excelled in how to analyze, break down, and tackle complex problems. Go ahead, it's the last one. Look, that is the goal of the new Mexican school: much greater participation, collaboration within the classroom. It's not the teacher who arrives and teaches and the students just listen, but rather a different kind of participation, a different pedagogy that is internationally recognized, and these are results that are even shown in the PISA test.
I don't know who else asked something, right, that I didn't answer or not. No, let's go to this side, eh? Let's see, let's see, let's see, let's see, let's see the colleague who...
Good morning, President. Perla Velázquez from Canal 22. On the topic that was just presented, President, about micro and small businesses, how are these benefits delivered? Because right now we were seeing for these businesses, because we were seeing that there is simplicity in the procedures, but also how it contributes to transparency, how it even contributes so they can have more access to programs.
Who wants to answer? What are the benefits being proposed? It's a benefit of how you pay your taxes to facilitate tax payment. That is one... and benefits in tax payment. A company or an individual with business activity has to report if there are workers working with the person to the Secretary of Labor by law. Likewise, the IMSS, they have to register their workers with the IMSS. So, what were they complaining about? That they had to stand in long lines, too many procedures, and if you have a business that is barely making a profit and paying your workers, then the lines, the procedures, all of that takes up a lot of your time and can also lead to corruption. So, what is the Secretary of Labor doing? Simplifying and digitizing procedures. What is the IMSS doing? Simplifying and digitizing procedures, all the procedures that have to be done with the IMSS and with the Secretary of Labor. And the SAT is also simplifying in the Régimen Simplificado de Confianza (RESICO) that was designed in the administration of President López Obrador and that we are now making even more accessible and even expanding the range of those who enter RESICO. That is the benefit for micro and small businesses, and in the case of Nafin, being able to obtain credit.
Yes, go ahead. The RESICOs that are already in the registry, already registered with the SAT, will be able to obtain that benefit of the limits and the accounting, but the new ones or those in the general regime or in some other regime can go to the SAT or via this line to make that regime change. Since it is optional, they can do it, and we keep that registry and we are already following up on it.
Thank you, President. Also, with the federal expenditure budget, we saw a proposal related to the zero rate for bookstores, medium and small ones. This is a budget policy that is given in response to the editorial and bookseller community that asked for support a few days ago when the case of Editorial Era became known. Yesterday, even from the Secretary of Culture and the director of the Fondo de Cultura Económica, this announcement was made. So, how is the bookseller and editorial community being responded to with this policy?
Do you want to explain how it was before and how it will be now with books? Books are exempt, you don't pay the 16% VAT. But the modification is that whoever sells that book doesn't charge VAT because it is exempt, but now it will go from exempt to zero rate. That means that their expenses can be claimed as a refund. It is support for all people and for the companies that sell books. And just as they were commenting about the churches, those are civil associations and those are exempt. I just wanted to clarify that.
It was an idea of... well, the bookseller community had been requesting this for a long time, let's call it that. But this was an idea that has been promoted for a long time by the Brigada para Leer en Libertad and Paco Tovar has also been requesting it for a long time, and now that the Editorial Era case happened, I asked how the editorial could be helped, Paco and Claudia sent me a letter and told me, 'It's much better if it's not just help for Editorial Era, but for all publishers.' So what is being done now is very good. What does it represent for the SAT? It means stopping collecting around 200 million pesos a year. So that would be integrated into the publishing houses.
President, also finally in this budget expenditure project, we see that Annex 33 is incorporated, a cross-cutting annex, and you yourself also mentioned at some point that what is not named does not exist, and in this cross-cutting annex the LGBT community and Cumas are being named. How is this naming also being done and now this advance in budget policy for the community? Because you consider that this has to do with the progressive government you lead and not like other ultra-right-wing governments that are looking backward and returning to the past in their policies.
Yes, the cross-cutting accounting, let's say, has to do with how much budget is allocated to a population group. For example, last year it was integrated into the care system. So a group of specialists meets with the Ministry of Finance and, in this case, the Ministry of Women, to see how much of the budget is being allocated to care. So, for example, part of the elderly pension is allocated to care. The new early childhood education and care centers are incorporated there. So it's not an additional budget, but rather a reflection of how the public budget serves a certain sector of the population. This annex had been requested by the LGBT community. So they approached the Ministry of Finance and now for the first time it appears. How much of the budget is being dedicated particularly to LGBT people? So there it is established, from health to other budgets that are directed. Jaime López, who is a deputy, had been requesting this cross-cutting annex for a long time. So for the first time it comes out as an annex and it's something good because it recognizes the budget that is directed in particular to a sector of the population. Yes, advancing in dignity for these people. It is considered for these people and the resource is made public, and it is made public that there is budget allocated to LGBT people.
