The First Chamber of Mexico’s Supreme Court of Justice (SCJN) recently issued case decision number 1a./J. 118/2025 (11a.), titled: “Reservation of taxpayer data. Article 69, twelfth paragraph, section VI, of the Federal Tax Code, which provides, as an exception, the forgiveness of tax credit, is a measure that passes the proportionality test.”

In the case at hand, after self-correcting and paying the omitted tax, an individual was granted the forgiveness of tax credit through the reduction of 100% of the corresponding penalty. However, it was determined that the taxpayer’s name and Federal Taxpayer Registry Code (RFC) would be published on the Internet page of Mexico’s Federal Tax Administration Service in accordance with the provisions of the article cited in the title of the case decision. In protest, the taxpayer claimed via an amparo appeal that the publication provided for in such article was disproportionate and violated his right to the protection of personal data.

The SCJN determined that such exception to tax secrecy, that is, the publication of the name and RFC of the taxpayer who benefited from the forgiveness of tax credit, constitutes a measure which does pass the proportionality test. The justices concluded that, although the publication affects the taxpayer’s right to the protection of personal data, the scenario provided by said article has a constitutionally valid purpose from the perspective of the right of access to public information provided in article 6 of the Constitution.  This is because its objective is to make information that impacts public income and expenditures transparent, which is in turn aligned with the principles of tax justice.

Thus, the SCJN considered that safeguarding the public’s right of access to information regarding the actions of authorities in the collection of public funds is of greater importance than the impact on the individual taxpayer’s right to the protection of personal data when they have benefited from the forgiveness of tax credits.

Through this precedent, the SCJN has prioritized the collective right of access to public information over the individual right to the protection of personal data, so it is advisable to keep this decision in mind when requesting the reduction of tax penalties, or in other cases in which there is a similar opposition of the right to protection of privacy over the right to transparency.