Career

OECD – CENTRE FOR TAX POLICY AND ADMINISTRATION (Paris, France)

• Adviser – Aggressive Tax Planning, November 2019 – November 2023 

I was part of a small team of tax policy experts at the OECD Secretariat responsible for the design and drafting of the 2020 Blueprint, and the GloBE Model Rules and Commentary, which includes Administrative Guidance.

Pillar 2 – GloBE Model Rules and Commentary (Global Minimum Tax)

My main responsibilities were designing, drafting, negotiating, and presenting policy and design recommendations to country delegates on the provisions of the Model Rules and Commentary such as:

• Scope - Consolidated revenue threshold; definitions of Constituent Entities, MNE Group, Group, and Excluded Entities (Articles 1, 6.1 and related definitions in Article 10.1)
• Income Inclusion Rule – Provisions related to the Income Inclusion Rule, including the split-ownership rules (Articles 2.1- 2.3).
• Main Entities and Permanent Establishments– Rules regarding the allocation of income and expenses between the Main Entities (e.g., Head Office) and Permanent Establishments (Article 3.4. and related definitions in Article 10.1).
• Flow-through Entities – Mechanics related to the allocation of income or loss from a Flow-through Entity to a Constituent Entity-owner (Articles 3.5, 7.1 and 10.2).  
• Joint Ventures – Provisions that extend the application of the GloBE Rules to joint-ventures (Article 6.4. and related definitions in Article 10.1).  
• Multi-parented MNE Groups – GloBE treatment of Multi-parented MNE Groups (Article 6.5. and related definitions in Article 10.1).
• Minority-owned Constituent Entity – Special provisions related to Minority-owned Constituent Entities (Article 5.6 and related definitions in Article 10.1).
• Location of Constituent Entities – Rules on the location of Constituent Entities, including the tie-breaker rule (Article 10.3).
• QDMTT Guidance – Commentary on the design of a QDMTT.  

Safe Harbours

I lead the design and managed to get agreed the transitional CbCR Safe-Harbour, the Simplified Calculations Safe Harbour and the QDMTT Safe Harbour.  

Pillar 2 – Subject to Tax Rule

Due to my expertise in tax treaties, I was also involved in the design and drafting of the Subject to Tax Rule and its Commentary during its early stages. Most specifically, I worked on the mechanics of the rule, the meaning of tax rate and adjustments, exclusions, interactions with a permanent establishment located in a third state and how the STTR interacts with other treaty provisions.  

Capacity Building and Technical Assistance

As part of my work with the OECD, I participated as an instructor on capacity building programmes and provided technical assistance to government officials. Most of this work involved presenting, explaining, and providing technical assistance to government officials on the GlobE Rules and on BEPS Action items 2 (Hybrids), 3 (CFC Rules), 4 (Interest Limitation Rules), and 12 (Mandatory Disclosure Rules).  

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MINISTRY OF FINANCE AND PUBLIC CREDIT - INTERNATIONAL TAX DIVISION  (Mexico City, Mexico)

• Deputy General Director of International Tax Policy - June 2016 – October 2019
• Area Director - March 2014 – May 2016
• Under-director for Special Projects - First term: November 2008-May 2010 - Second term: March 2012-February 2014

I worked for the Mexican Ministry of Finance and Public Credit  for 10 years. I was responsible for designing and drafting many international tax provisions and regulations, including many that derive from the BEPS project; I was a member of the tax treaty negotiating team; the Mexican delegate and Bureau Member in the OECD Working Party 11 on Aggressive Tax Planning; among other work.

2020 Mexican Tax Reform

I was responsible for designing and drafting the following provisions that were submitted to the Mexican Congress in 2019 as part of the 2020 Tax Reform Bill, all of which were incorporated into the Mexican Tax Law with minor amendments or additions. Part of my work included coordinating and leading the discussion with the rest of the international tax team and members of the tax administration before finishing the draft legislation.  

• Foreign Tax Transparent Entities – Designed and drafted new provisions dealing with foreign tax transparent entities (Articles 4-A and 4-B - Income Tax Law). After that, I worked with Congress to develop Article 205 related to private equity funds structured as tax transparent entities.  
• New CFC Rules – Redesigned CFC Rules to include several BEPS Action 3 recommendations (Articles 176-178 - Income Tax Law).  
• Interest Limitation Rules – Designed and drafted a new interest limitation rule based on the BEPS Action 4 Report (Article 28, XXXII – Income Tax Law and related provisions).  
• Hybrid mismatch arrangements - Drafted legislation to incorporate recommendations from the BEPS Action 2 Report (Article 28, paragraphs XXIII & XXIX, Article 5, last paragraph - Income Tax Law).  
• Definition of Permanent Establishment – Drafted modifications to the definition of Permanent Establishment in the Mexican tax legislation to align it with the BEPS Action 7 Report (Articles 2 and 3 - Income Tax Law)
• Royalties earned by non-residents for the use of industrial, commercial, and scientific equipment – In response to a Mexican Supreme Court decision, drafted amendments to provisions related to the taxation of income that derive from “leasing industrial, commercial, and scientific equipment” to avoid potential risks with the longstanding Mexican tax treaty policy on taxing these payments as royalties.  
• General Anti-Abuse Rule – Designed and drafted the principle based GAAR and coordinated with the Tax Administration to include the procedural rules related to such provision (Article 5-A - Tax Code).  
• Mandatory Disclosure Rules – Designed and drafted a new chapter in the Tax Code to incorporate Mandatory Disclosure Rules based on the BEPS Action 12 Report (Article 197-202 of the Tax Code, and related provisions).  
• Mutual Assistance Procedure (MAP) – Designed and drafted additions to the Tax Code related to the Mutual Assistance Procedure to ensure that the time limits in the Mexican legislation do not affect the implementation of the agreement reached by the competent authorities (Articles 67 and 146 of the Tax Code).  

2014 Mexican Tax Reform

• Foreign Tax Credit Rules - Responsible for designing and drafting the Foreign Tax Credit Rules, including the new Indirect Tax Credit system (Articles 5 and 77, paragraph 4 – Income Tax Law).  
• Dividends paid to non-residents – Actively participated in the introduction of the provision that establishes a 10% withholding tax on dividends paid to non-residents (Article 164 – Income Tax Law).
• Tax on Dividends paid to resident individuals - Actively participated in the introduction of the provision that imposes a 10% withholding tax on dividends paid to resident individuals (Articles 140, second paragraph and 142 paragraph V – Income Tax Law).  

Tax Treaty Negotiating Team

I was a member of the Mexican Tax Treaty Negotiating Team during my entire career in the Ministry of Finance. During those 10 years, I started as a junior member of the team preparing documents for the negotiation to then becoming a senior member of the team with a vital role in the negotiation strategy and tax treaty policy, as well as being actively involved in the negotiations.  

Mexican delegate to the OECD

Mexican delegate and Bureau Member in Working Party 11 (WP11) on Aggressive Tax Planning. As a delegate in WP11, I was involved in the design of the following BEPS Action Items:

• Action 2 – Neutralising the Effects of Hybrid Mismatch Arrangements and Neutralising the Effects of Branch Mismatch Arrangements
• Action 3 – Designing Effective Controlled Foreign Company Rules
• Action 4 – Limiting Base Erosion Involving Interest Deductions and other Financial Payments
• Action 12 – Mandatory Disclosure Rules

I was also involved in designing the Mexican positions with the rest of the team for other working parties, in particular, the positions on Working Party 1 (WP1) on Tax Conventions and Related Questions.  

Other relevant work

• Work with the tax administration– Part of my work involved interacting with the Tax Administration Service (SAT) on specific cases and providing technical assistance on the application of tax treaties and domestic tax provisions. This includes providing feedback on the draft administrative rules issued by the tax administration.  
• Foreign Pension Funds – Co-responsible for modifying the policy and provisions in the Income Tax Law Regulations and Administrative Rules on how foreign pension funds can access an exemption when they invest indirectly in Mexican real estate through entities or investment funds (Articles 272 and 274 – Income Tax Law Regulations and related administrative rules)  
• Renegotiation of NAFTA/USMCA – Represented Mexico in the negotiations on the provision related to Exceptions and Income Taxes in the USMCA (Article 32.3).