When Mexico Treats You as Tax Resident
Mexico does not count days. The test in the Fiscal Code is whether you have established a home in the country, and - if you have a home in another country too - whether your centre of vital interests is in Mexico. Two things decide that: more than half your worldwide income having its source in Mexico in a calendar year, or Mexico being the main place you carry on your professional activities. There is no 183-day rule anywhere in the article, which makes Mexico an outlier among every country in this reference. Residence brings worldwide taxation, and leaving it requires a notice filed fifteen days in advance.
At a glance
- Day-count test
- None
- Primary test
- Having established a home in Mexico
- Tie-breaker where you have a home in two countries
- Centre of vital interests
- Income limb of the tie-breaker
- More than 50% of total income in the calendar year sourced in Mexico
- Activity limb of the tie-breaker
- Mexico being the main place of your professional activities
- Scope of taxation for a resident
- Worldwide income, whatever the source
- Notice before ceasing to be resident
- No later than 15 days before the change
- If you do not file that notice
- You stay resident in Mexico
- Moving to a preferential tax regime
- Residence continues for the year of the notice and the following five tax years
- Mexican nationals
- Presumed resident unless they prove otherwise
Requirements
- A home established in Mexico - the test starts and can end there
- Where you also have a home abroad, Mexico is your residence if your centre of vital interests is here
- Your centre of vital interests is in Mexico if more than 50% of your total income in the calendar year has its source in Mexico, or if Mexico is the main place of your professional activities
- Residents are taxed on worldwide income whatever its source
- To stop being resident, a notice to the tax authorities no later than 15 days before the change takes effect
In detail
No 183-day rule, and that is the whole point
Every other country in this reference answers the tax residence question with a day count - 183 days in Peru, in Colombia, in Chile, in Brazil, in Argentina. Mexico does not. Article 9 of the Fiscal Code asks whether you have established a home here, and if you have homes in two countries, where your centre of vital interests sits. Someone can spend eight months a year in Mexico without becoming resident if they keep no home here and earn nothing here; someone can spend four months and be resident because the home and the work are both Mexican. Guidance written on the assumption that Mexico counts days is wrong in both directions.
Centre of vital interests, and what the two tests actually measure
The Code gives two examples. The first is arithmetical: more than half your total income for the calendar year - total, not Mexican - having its source in Mexico. The second is not: Mexico being the main centre of your professional activities. Because the list is introduced by 'among other cases', satisfying neither does not settle the question, and the authority is not confined to those two facts.
Leaving has to be done, not merely happen
Ceasing to be resident requires a notice filed no later than fifteen days before the change. Omit it and residence continues. And if the new residence is in a country whose tax regime the income tax law treats as preferential, residence in Mexico carries on for the year of the notice and the five tax years after it - unless the destination has both a broad information-exchange agreement and a treaty on mutual administrative assistance in collection with Mexico.
Exceptions by origin
No exceptions recorded
Nothing we have read treats any nationality differently for this topic. The rule above applies to everyone.
What the law says
«Las que hayan establecido su casa habitación en México. Cuando las personas físicas de que se trate también tengan casa habitación en otro país, se considerarán residentes en México, si en territorio nacional se encuentra su centro de intereses vitales.»Our translation - not official
Those who have established their home in Mexico. Where the individuals concerned also have a home in another country, they shall be considered resident in Mexico if their centre of vital interests is in national territory.
The whole test. No days are counted anywhere in this article, and 'casa habitación' is a home rather than a property - owning a flat you never use is not obviously the same thing, and the Code does not define it further.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
The Chamber of Deputies' law library, which maintains the texto vigente of every federal statute together with a reform history for each. It is where the Ley de Migración, the Ley de Nacionalidad, the Código Fiscal and the Ley Aduanera can be read as amended rather than reconstructed from the decrees that amended them.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: Nothing below statute level is here. The Lineamientos, acuerdos and administrative instruments are where almost all Mexican immigration practice actually changes, and none of them is published by this body - the Reglamento de la Ley de Migración it does carry has not been reformed since 2014 and is in places overtaken by instruments it cannot show you. It is also not an authority on when a reform took effect: the transitional articles of the amending decree live in the Diario Oficial, not here. And its standard pdf/ edition is not safe to extract: a reading of the Ley de Migración from it silently dropped 21 of 162 articles, including article 52, the one listing every migration status. Use the pdf_mov/ edition and check article numbering for gaps after any fetch.
We re-read it every 30 days. More about this source
«Cuando más del 50% de los ingresos totales que obtenga la persona física en el año de calendario tengan fuente de riqueza en México.»Our translation - not official
When more than 50% of the total income obtained by the individual in the calendar year has its source of wealth in Mexico.
'Ingresos totales' is worldwide income, so the fraction is Mexican-source income over everything you earned, not over what you earned in Mexico.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
The Chamber of Deputies' law library, which maintains the texto vigente of every federal statute together with a reform history for each. It is where the Ley de Migración, the Ley de Nacionalidad, the Código Fiscal and the Ley Aduanera can be read as amended rather than reconstructed from the decrees that amended them.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: Nothing below statute level is here. The Lineamientos, acuerdos and administrative instruments are where almost all Mexican immigration practice actually changes, and none of them is published by this body - the Reglamento de la Ley de Migración it does carry has not been reformed since 2014 and is in places overtaken by instruments it cannot show you. It is also not an authority on when a reform took effect: the transitional articles of the amending decree live in the Diario Oficial, not here. And its standard pdf/ edition is not safe to extract: a reading of the Ley de Migración from it silently dropped 21 of 162 articles, including article 52, the one listing every migration status. Use the pdf_mov/ edition and check article numbering for gaps after any fetch.
We re-read it every 30 days. More about this source
«Cuando en el país tengan el centro principal de sus actividades profesionales.»Our translation - not official
When the main centre of their professional activities is in the country.
The second limb is introduced by 'entre otros casos' - among other cases - so the two numbered tests are examples rather than an exhaustive definition of the centre of vital interests.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
The Chamber of Deputies' law library, which maintains the texto vigente of every federal statute together with a reform history for each. It is where the Ley de Migración, the Ley de Nacionalidad, the Código Fiscal and the Ley Aduanera can be read as amended rather than reconstructed from the decrees that amended them.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: Nothing below statute level is here. The Lineamientos, acuerdos and administrative instruments are where almost all Mexican immigration practice actually changes, and none of them is published by this body - the Reglamento de la Ley de Migración it does carry has not been reformed since 2014 and is in places overtaken by instruments it cannot show you. It is also not an authority on when a reform took effect: the transitional articles of the amending decree live in the Diario Oficial, not here. And its standard pdf/ edition is not safe to extract: a reading of the Ley de Migración from it silently dropped 21 of 162 articles, including article 52, the one listing every migration status. Use the pdf_mov/ edition and check article numbering for gaps after any fetch.
We re-read it every 30 days. More about this source
«deberán presentar un aviso ante las autoridades fiscales, a más tardar dentro de los 15 días inmediatos anteriores a aquél en el que suceda el cambio de residencia fiscal.»Our translation - not official
must file a notice with the tax authorities no later than within the 15 days immediately preceding the day on which the change of tax residence occurs.
The paragraph ends by saying that if the notice is not filed, residence in Mexico is not lost. Leaving is an act, not a consequence of having gone.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
The Chamber of Deputies' law library, which maintains the texto vigente of every federal statute together with a reform history for each. It is where the Ley de Migración, the Ley de Nacionalidad, the Código Fiscal and the Ley Aduanera can be read as amended rather than reconstructed from the decrees that amended them.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: Nothing below statute level is here. The Lineamientos, acuerdos and administrative instruments are where almost all Mexican immigration practice actually changes, and none of them is published by this body - the Reglamento de la Ley de Migración it does carry has not been reformed since 2014 and is in places overtaken by instruments it cannot show you. It is also not an authority on when a reform took effect: the transitional articles of the amending decree live in the Diario Oficial, not here. And its standard pdf/ edition is not safe to extract: a reading of the Ley de Migración from it silently dropped 21 of 162 articles, including article 52, the one listing every migration status. Use the pdf_mov/ edition and check article numbering for gaps after any fetch.
We re-read it every 30 days. More about this source
«Salvo prueba en contrario, se presume que las personas físicas de nacionalidad mexicana, son residentes en territorio nacional.»Our translation - not official
Unless proved otherwise, individuals of Mexican nationality are presumed to be resident in national territory.
The presumption attaches to nationality, which is why a naturalised Mexican who later leaves carries a burden an ordinary foreigner does not.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
The Chamber of Deputies' law library, which maintains the texto vigente of every federal statute together with a reform history for each. It is where the Ley de Migración, the Ley de Nacionalidad, the Código Fiscal and the Ley Aduanera can be read as amended rather than reconstructed from the decrees that amended them.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: Nothing below statute level is here. The Lineamientos, acuerdos and administrative instruments are where almost all Mexican immigration practice actually changes, and none of them is published by this body - the Reglamento de la Ley de Migración it does carry has not been reformed since 2014 and is in places overtaken by instruments it cannot show you. It is also not an authority on when a reform took effect: the transitional articles of the amending decree live in the Diario Oficial, not here. And its standard pdf/ edition is not safe to extract: a reading of the Ley de Migración from it silently dropped 21 of 162 articles, including article 52, the one listing every migration status. Use the pdf_mov/ edition and check article numbering for gaps after any fetch.
We re-read it every 30 days. More about this source
«Las residentes en México, respecto de todos sus ingresos, cualquiera que sea la ubicación de la fuente de riqueza de donde procedan.»Our translation - not official
Those resident in Mexico, in respect of all their income, whatever the location of the source of wealth from which it derives.
What tax residence costs: worldwide income, not Mexican-source income.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
The Chamber of Deputies' law library, which maintains the texto vigente of every federal statute together with a reform history for each. It is where the Ley de Migración, the Ley de Nacionalidad, the Código Fiscal and the Ley Aduanera can be read as amended rather than reconstructed from the decrees that amended them.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: Nothing below statute level is here. The Lineamientos, acuerdos and administrative instruments are where almost all Mexican immigration practice actually changes, and none of them is published by this body - the Reglamento de la Ley de Migración it does carry has not been reformed since 2014 and is in places overtaken by instruments it cannot show you. It is also not an authority on when a reform took effect: the transitional articles of the amending decree live in the Diario Oficial, not here. And its standard pdf/ edition is not safe to extract: a reading of the Ley de Migración from it silently dropped 21 of 162 articles, including article 52, the one listing every migration status. Use the pdf_mov/ edition and check article numbering for gaps after any fetch.
We re-read it every 30 days. More about this source
Practical notes
The Tax Administration Service's own pages would not serve a readable page to our fetcher, so nothing here rests on them. The record is built from the Fiscal Code and the income tax law as consolidated by the Chamber of Deputies.
A migration status does not decide tax residence and tax residence does not decide migration status. Nothing in article 9 refers to a visa or a residence card.
We have not read the Resolución Miscelánea Fiscal, which is where the procedure for the notice of change of residence and for a certificate of tax residence actually lives. The rule is stated here; the paperwork is not.
A double tax treaty can displace this test for treaty purposes. We did not read any of Mexico's treaties.
- consolidatesCódigo Fiscal de la Federación (texto vigente)
Cámara de Diputados del H. Congreso de la Unión
About this source
The Chamber of Deputies' law library, which maintains the texto vigente of every federal statute together with a reform history for each. It is where the Ley de Migración, the Ley de Nacionalidad, the Código Fiscal and the Ley Aduanera can be read as amended rather than reconstructed from the decrees that amended them.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: Nothing below statute level is here. The Lineamientos, acuerdos and administrative instruments are where almost all Mexican immigration practice actually changes, and none of them is published by this body - the Reglamento de la Ley de Migración it does carry has not been reformed since 2014 and is in places overtaken by instruments it cannot show you. It is also not an authority on when a reform took effect: the transitional articles of the amending decree live in the Diario Oficial, not here. And its standard pdf/ edition is not safe to extract: a reading of the Ley de Migración from it silently dropped 21 of 162 articles, including article 52, the one listing every migration status. Use the pdf_mov/ edition and check article numbering for gaps after any fetch.
We re-read it every 30 days. More about this source
- consolidatesLey del Impuesto sobre la Renta (texto vigente)
Cámara de Diputados del H. Congreso de la Unión
About this source
The Chamber of Deputies' law library, which maintains the texto vigente of every federal statute together with a reform history for each. It is where the Ley de Migración, the Ley de Nacionalidad, the Código Fiscal and the Ley Aduanera can be read as amended rather than reconstructed from the decrees that amended them.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: Nothing below statute level is here. The Lineamientos, acuerdos and administrative instruments are where almost all Mexican immigration practice actually changes, and none of them is published by this body - the Reglamento de la Ley de Migración it does carry has not been reformed since 2014 and is in places overtaken by instruments it cannot show you. It is also not an authority on when a reform took effect: the transitional articles of the amending decree live in the Diario Oficial, not here. And its standard pdf/ edition is not safe to extract: a reading of the Ley de Migración from it silently dropped 21 of 162 articles, including article 52, the one listing every migration status. Use the pdf_mov/ edition and check article numbering for gaps after any fetch.
We re-read it every 30 days. More about this source