MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – Mexican airline Interjet, which was declared bankrupt by a judge last week, owes around $1.5 billion in back taxes, the head of Mexico’s tax administration service said Tuesday.
Interjet stopped flying at the end of 2020 after the coronavirus pandemic tanked travel demand and dealt a critical blow to the company’s already-battered finances.
Since then, it has received complaints from customers who had flights canceled and from its union, which alleges employees went months without pay before Interjet went offline.
However, the tax authority, SAT, is its largest creditor.
“The total amount (of debt owed) to SAT at the moment is approximately 30 billion mexican pesos ($1.5 billion),” said its chief, Raquel Buenrostro, at a conference.
Buenrostro added that the airline could reduce that total by 19 billion pesos if it presents certain tax documentation.
Interjet has around six months to reach an agreement with creditors as part of its bankruptcy process, judicial documents showed last week.
($1 = 20.1313 Mexican pesos)
($1 = 20.1290 Mexican pesos)
(Reporting by Adriana Barrera; Writing by Diego Ore; Editing by Stephen Coates)
