Mexican IVA taxes receivable

9 Months Ended

Jul. 31, 2023

Mexican IVA taxes receivable

Mexican IVA taxes receivable

10. Mexican IVA taxes receivable

Included in other assets are tax receivables due from the Mexican government for value-added taxes (“IVA”) paid in advance. CDM is charged IVA by vendors on certain expenditures in Mexico, which, insofar as they relate to the exportation of goods, translate into IVA amounts recoverable from the Mexican government.

As of July 31, 2023, and October 31, 2022, CDM IVA receivables totaled $54.1 million (921.7 million Mexican pesos) and $43.6 million (865.4 million Mexican pesos). Historically, CDM received IVA refund payments from the Mexican tax authorities on a timely basis. Beginning in fiscal 2014 and continuing into fiscal 2023, the tax authorities began objecting to refund requests and supporting documentation that had previously been deemed acceptable to process a refund. Additionally, they are also contesting the refunds requested attributable to IVA paid to certain suppliers that allegedly did not fulfill their own tax obligations. We believe these factors and others have contributed to delays in the processing of IVA claims by the Mexican tax authorities. Currently, we are in the process of collecting such balances primarily through regular administrative processes, but these amounts may ultimately need to be recovered through Administrative Appeals and/or other legal means.

During the first quarter of fiscal 2017, the tax authorities informed us that their internal opinion, based on the information provided by the local SAT office, considers that CDM is not properly documented relative to its declared tax structure and therefore CDM cannot claim the refundable IVA balance. CDM has strong arguments and supporting documentation to sustain its declared tax structure for IVA and income tax purposes. CDM started an Administrative Appeal for the IVA related to the request of the months of July, August and September of 2015 (the “2015 Appeal”) in

order to assert its argument that CDM is properly documented and to therefore change the SAT’s internal assessment. In August 2018, we received a favorable ruling from the SAT’s Legal Administration in Michoacan on the 2015 Appeal indicating that they believe CDM’s legal interpretation of its declared tax structure is indeed accurate. While favorable on this central matter of CDM’s declared tax structure, the ruling, however, still does not recognize the taxpayers right to a full refund for the IVA related to the months of July, August and September 2015. Therefore, in October 2018, CDM filed a substance-over-form Annulment Suit in the Federal Tax Court to recover its full refund for IVA over the subject period.

In April 2022, the Tax Court issued the ruling for the months of July, August and September 2015 through which it was declared that the following resolutions were resolved:

● It is recognized that CDM operates as a maquila under the authorization of the Ministry of Finance.

● It is recognized that all bank deposits corresponding to the purchase of avocados on behalf of Calavo Growers Inc. (CGI), are subject to the maquila program and it is not accruable income for purposes of Income Tax nor activities subject to VAT.

● It is recognized that VAT is recoverable, since CDM demonstrated the existence of operations carried under the maquila services.

● Resolved that certain VAT amounts attributed to the purchase of certain packing materials are not recoverable as CDM was not the buyer on record and therefore did not pay for the materials, which approximated $6.9 million pesos (approximately $0.4 million USD).

In January 2023 the Federal Tax Court issued a definitive resolution confirming the ruling from April 2022, ordering SAT to refund approximately $18 million pesos (approx. $1.1 million USD at July 31, 2023) and confirming that the $6.9 million pesos (approx. $0.4 million USD at July 31, 2023) related to packing materials will not be recoverable. For the nine months ended July 31, 2023, we recognized a reserve of $1.4 million USD for Mexican IVA tax receivables related to certain packing material vendors corresponding to the years 2013 and 2015. This reserve includes the amounts included in the January 2023 ruling as well as other similar receivables that are subject to proceedings in this same Federal Tax Court.

In June 2023 we received $2.8 million from the SAT related to Mexican IVA tax receivables corresponding to fiscal year 2013 which was consistent with the January 2023 definitive resolution. Of this amount, $1.7 million was interest and inflation related adjustments. This $1.7 million was netted with expenses related to Mexican tax matters on the statement of operations.

We believe that our operations in Mexico are properly documented, and our internationally recognized tax advisors believe that there are legal grounds to prevail in collecting the corresponding IVA amounts. With assistance from our internationally recognized tax advisory firm, as of July 31, 2023, CDM has filed Administrative Appeals for months for which IVA refunds have been denied by the SAT, and will continue filing such appeals for any months for which refunds are denied in the future. Therefore, it is probable that the Mexican tax authorities will ultimately authorize the refund of the remaining IVA amounts.