Mexico offers new tax incentives applicable across all industries and geographies under 'Plan Mexico' strategy

A Presidential Decree (the Decree), published in Mexico's Federal Official Gazette on 21 January 2025, grants tax incentives to taxpayers without regard to size, industry or location, consisting of an accelerated depreciation for investment in new fixed assets and an additional deduction for training and innovation expenses.

This Decree was issued following a series of public communications by the President to promote “Plan Mexico,” a strategy aimed at positioning Mexico within the 10 largest global economies by consolidating the nearshoring strategy, promoting new investments, encouraging local training programs and driving innovation.

The Decree came into effect on 22 January 2025 and will be applicable until 30 September 2030, nullifying the provisions contained in an earlier Decree that granted tax incentives for sectors of the export industry, including an immediate deduction for investments in new fixed assets and a deduction for training expenses. (See EY Global Tax Alert, Mexico offers tax incentives to taxpayers in key sectors of the export industry, dated 13 October 2023.)

Taxpayers in scope of the Decree include all legal entities and individuals who have a Mexican Tax identification number, are up to date with their compliance obligations and obtain authorization from an Evaluation Committee (i.e., a new government body established to ensure transparency and control of the incentives).

The total authorized tax incentives for the duration of the Decree will not exceed 30b Mexican pesos (approx imately, US$1.5b), with 28.5b Mexican pesos (approximately, US$1.425b) for the accelerated depreciation incentive, and 1.5b Mexican pesos (approximately, US$750m) for the additional deductions for training and innovation expenses. Out of the total 30b Mexican pesos amount, 1b Mexican pesos will be reserved for taxpayers with a maximum income of 100m pesos (approximately, US$5m) in the previous year.

Highlights of the incentives included in the new Decree follow.

Accelerated tax depreciation for investment in new assets

The incentive allows for the immediate tax deduction of investments in qualified new fixed assets acquired from 22 January 2025 through 30 September 2030. The fixed assets must be used for the performance of productive economic activities, for a period of at least two years following the year in which the accelerated depreciation deduction is applied.

Consistent with Mexico’s past policy for accelerated depreciation, the decree provides a table of percentages to be applied to the cost of the asset to determine the amount of the immediate deduction. The percentage to be applied ranges from 35%-91%, depending on the nature of the asset and is applied to the acquisition cost to determine the single-year deduction. The remaining cost is nondeductible, unless the asset is sold or written off prior to the end of a specified period. A table is included in the decree to provide details of the amount that can be recovered through an additional deduction in these cases, based on the elapsed time.

This benefit does not apply for office furniture and equipment, automobiles, armory for vehicles and other non-individually identifiable assets. The benefit is applicable to a wide range of assets, including construction equipment, railroads, ships, airplanes, electric vehicles, computer equipment, communication systems and certain other industrial machinery.

The immediate deduction established in the decree is considered a fully deductible expense for Value Added Tax (VAT) purposes.

Additional deduction for training and innovation expenses

An additional deduction may be applied for income tax purposes on annual tax returns for fiscal years 2025–2030; the deduction amounts to 25% of the increase in training or innovation expenses within the fiscal year. The increase is calculated as the positive difference between the expense for training or innovation, and the average expense for these concepts in the last three fiscal years.

“Training” refers to technical or scientific knowledge related to the taxpayer's activity, and “innovation expenses” are those related to investment projects for innovation developments that result in patents, as well as initial certifications for integration into local or regional supply chains.

Taxpayers who miss the opportunity to apply this incentive in the fiscal year in which the training or innovation expenses are incurred forfeit its application in subsequent years.

Compliance and monitoring

Taxpayers must ensure that they strictly comply with the eligibility criteria and documentation requirements to benefit from these incentives. For example, they must keep specific records of the investments for which they chose the immediate deduction and maintain supporting documentation.

Tax authorities will conduct regular audits and monitoring to ensure the proper utilization of the incentives. Circumstances under which the Decree may be automatically nullified include: engaging in sham transactions; abusing the use of net operating losses; having an outstanding tax assessment; entering into a liquidation process; and applying a suspended digital stamp to an invoice.

Noncompliance or misuse of the incentives may result in penalties, including the repayment of benefits received.

The Mexican Tax Authority and the Evaluation Committee are expected to issue additional regulations.

Implications

Multinational entities that have subsidiaries in Mexico or are interested in investing in Mexico will want to become familiar with the new tax incentives it offers and evaluate the extent to which they may apply, which could reduce their operational costs in Mexico.

EYS, Equipo y Soluciones, S.C., Mexico

• Koen van’ t Hek 

Ernst & Young LLP (United States), Latin American Business Center, New York

• Enrique Perez Grovas
• Ana Mingramm

Ernst & Young LLP (United States), Latin American Business Center, Dallas

• Alejandra Sanchez

Ernst & Young LLP (United States), Latin American Business Center, Miami

• Terri Grosselin

Ernst & Young LLP (United States), Latin American Business Center, San Diego

• Ernesto Ocampo

Published by NTD’s Tax Technical Knowledge Services group; Carolyn Wright, legal editor

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