Tax reform requires expats to obtain taxpayer registration by July 1

Copied from Mexico News Daily

Tax reform requires expats to obtain taxpayer registration by July 1

The change will help the government spot money laundering and other illegal financial transactions

All foreign residents in Mexico will soon be required to have a tax number due to a recent tax reform.

Temporary and permanent residents aged 18 or over or anyone with a CURP identity number must have an RFC number by July 1 whether they earn income in Mexico or not.

RFC stands for Registro Federal de Contribuyentes, or Federal Taxpayers Registry. RFC numbers are used by the federal government for a range of purposes, among which are to track income and detect potential cases of money laundering.

An application for an RFC number must be lodged in person at an office of the federal tax agency SAT. The first step in the process is to make an appointment at your nearest SAT office via the agency’s online portal (Spanish only)

To make an appointment to get an RFC, after following the link in our story, click on “Registrar Cita” (Make an appointment).
If you don’t understand Spanish you can use Google Translate to convert the text to English.

After requesting an appointment (registrar cita) and choosing the option for an individual taxpayer (persona física) you will be required to enter your CURP number, which appears on residency cards, as well as your full name and email address.

You will then be directed to a new page, where you will need to select the service for which you’d like to make an appointment, the state in which you live and the office at which you would like to lodge your application.

After you have done that, you will either be able to schedule an appointment on the page’s virtual calendar or be told that no appointments are available and given the option to join a fila virtual or virtual line. By entering your email address you will be sent a “token” – an alphanumeric code – that can be used to join the virtual line.

You will then receive an email confirming you are in the virtual line and advising you to monitor your email for an appointment date and time. On the day of your appointment, you will need to take a variety of documents to the SAT office.

According to the SAT website, foreigners applying for a RFC number themselves need:

A valid migration document, i.e. a residency card.
Proof of address, such as a bank statement, electricity bill or rental contract.
A passport.
Paul Kurtzweil from the YouTube channel Two Expats in Mexico said in a video about the RFC application process that foreigners should also take a printout of their CURP – available here – and a thumb drive with them when applying for their tax number.

“They’re going to be putting some things on there for you, so don’t forget that item,” he said.

To begin generating your Proof of Fiscal/Tax Situation document after following the link in our story, scroll to the bottom and click on the gold button saying “EJECUTAR EN LINEA.”
Trisha Velarmino, who provides a detailed account of her experience applying for an RFC number on the Mexico Insider website, said that SAT places a taxpayer’s firma digital or digital signature on his or her USB stick.

During the application process, SAT will collect biometric data from applicants, including facial photographs and fingerprints. There is no cost involved in applying for an RFC number, and the application process in a SAT office shouldn’t take longer than 40 minutes.

Kurtzweil said in his RFC video that it’s increasingly difficult to get things done in Mexico due to recent legislative and rule changes. He said that people have been unable to open bank accounts and buy cars because they didn’t have a RFC number.

Lakeside News, an English-language news outlet that publishes on the Semanario Laguna website, said that without an RFC number on your electricity bill, you won’t be able to sell your house or buy a car. It also noted that in some places, an RFC number is needed to open a bank account or contract internet service.

Another bureaucratic requirement of foreigners once they have an RFC number is to obtain a document called Constancia de Situación Fiscal (Proof of Fiscal/Tax Situation). That document will be required by any foreigners doing business in Mexico, even if that business is simply being an electricity, water or internet customer.

According to Lakeside News, companies will soon be asking foreigners for their Constancia de Situación Fiscal if they are not doing so already.

The document can be obtained via the SAT website. Two Expats in Mexico has a video detailing how to get a Constancia de Situación Fiscal online.

With reports from Semanario Laguna/Lakeside News

I believe they will eventually ask for an RFC #. Some people have an old RFC however it has to be renewed as stated in the article above. My accountant took me to the SAT office last year to do this. I recommend taking someone who speaks Spanish if you aren't fluent.

I guess I have an individual since it is 13 characters however my business name is also mentioned on the certificate.

To add the RFC to your CFE bill (which is the requirement to sell a property) you need to go to their office and apply. There is no on-line way to add your RFC #.

Well if you have never been to the SAT office then yes you probably need to re-register it. That's what happened with me. My accountant contacted me and said he had to take me to SAT to re-register my RFC.

Not sure however I had an RFC for years which my accountant used to file my Bi-monthly taxes. Then either last year or the year before he called me and said my RFC was no longer accepted until I go to the SAT office and have everything confirmed including finger prints and uploads of my Residency Visa card. Maybe "renew" is the wrong word.

It does say "An application for an RFC number must be lodged in person at an office of the federal tax agency SAT."

Just a guess about "re-certifying" or renewing your RFC: if you already have one from years past, I don't think the Mexican government acquired any biometric data on you when you got it. Now it looks like they want to, and they want to give you an electronic ID in the form of a file. So that requires a visit.

Yes, exactly Novadamer. I acquired my original RFC online about 10 years ago.

Another thing to consider is that Mexico has been very lacks in pursuing taxation on worldwide income from Expats. Yes, many people here are from countries that have a tax treaty with Mexico but that tax treaty doesn't cover ALL forms of foreign income. I have heard that this is also a precursor to getting foreigners to file for their worldwide income hence the reason all foreigners are required to get this.

What exactly is the CONSTANCIA DE SITUACION FISCAL? A document?

EDIT: To answer my own question......Yes, it is a document. I just found mine.