The Opinión de Cumplimiento (Tax Compliance Opinion) is a document issued by Mexico's Tax Administration Service (SAT) that indicates whether an individual or legal entity is current with their tax obligations. This result — positive or negative — is decisive for accessing government contracts, bank credit, and formal business relationships in Mexico.
What Is the Opinión de Cumplimiento?
The Opinión de Cumplimiento (also known as the Tax Compliance Opinion) is an online query that the SAT makes available to taxpayers. Its result reflects whether the taxpayer:
Is registered in the RFC with active status
Has filed tax returns on time
Has no outstanding firm tax debts
Does not appear on SAT's EFOS or EDOS blacklists
Has no federal tax arrears
The result is issued as Positive (compliant), Negative (non-compliant), Suspended activities, or Registered without obligations.
What Is It Used For?
The Tax Compliance Opinion is required in multiple scenarios:
Public tenders: Mexico's Procurement Law requires a positive opinion to participate in federal, state, and municipal government contracts.
Subsidies and tax incentives: It is an indispensable requirement for accessing government support programs.
Credit assessment: Banks, SOFOMes, and financial institutions use it as a fiscal health indicator during the credit underwriting process.
Business relationships: Large companies request it from suppliers to mitigate counterparty risk, as part of their KYS (Know Your Supplier) process.
Tax refunds: The SAT verifies it before authorizing VAT refunds or other tax credits.
How to Obtain It
1. Through the SAT portal:
Go to sat.gob.mx
Navigate to "Other services" > "Compliance Opinion"
Log in with your RFC and password, e.firma, or portable e.firma
The system generates the result immediately
2. Third-party authorized query:
Taxpayers can authorize third parties (banks, companies, government) to query their opinion
This is done through the SAT authorization form
3. Bulk query via [SAT APIs](/blog/sat-apis-negocios):
Companies with high volumes of suppliers or clients can automate the query through web services
What Causes a Negative Opinion?
The most common reasons include:
Missed filings: Not having submitted monthly or annual returns within established deadlines.
Firm tax debts: Having SAT-determined debts that have not been paid or challenged.
RFC inconsistencies: Outdated data in the Tax Status Certificate.
Unregistered obligations: Not having the correct tax regime or having pending registration obligations.
EFOS/EDOS listing: Being flagged as a company that issues or deducts simulated invoices.
How to Correct a Negative Opinion
Identify the non-compliance by reviewing the details shown on the SAT portal.
File the missed returns or pay the outstanding tax debts.
Update your tax status if there is incorrect data in your RFC.
Query again — the system updates in real time once the situation is corrected.
Importance for Credit Risk Analysis
The Tax Compliance Opinion is one of the most direct indicators of a company's fiscal health. A negative opinion may signal:
Cash flow problems (unable to pay taxes on time)
Administrative disorganization (doesn't file returns)
Regulatory risk (simulated invoices, money laundering)
At CRiskCo, the Tax Compliance Opinion is one of the signals we automatically integrate into our risk analysis. Our platform queries SAT sources directly to verify the compliance status of any Mexican company, eliminating manual processes and reducing evaluation time from days to seconds.
Need to verify the tax compliance of your clients or suppliers automatically? [Explore our compliance solutions](/solutions/compliance).