The Régimen Simplificado de Confianza, known as RESICO, is a Mexican tax regime that lets individuals earning up to 3.5 million pesos a year in qualifying income pay income tax at rates between 1% and 2.5% of gross revenue, instead of the standard progressive brackets that reach 35%. The trade-off is direct: you give up the right to deduct business expenses, and you accept stricter compliance rules with the Servicio de Administración Tributaria (SAT). Miss an exclusion, skip an invoice, or file late, and you can be pushed into the general regime with no easy way back.
Who Qualifies as an Individual
RESICO is open to individuals whose total annual gross income from qualifying activities stays under 3.5 million pesos. Article 113-E of the Ley del Impuesto sobre la Renta defines the three qualifying categories: business activities such as commerce, manufacturing, and agriculture; professional services (independent work requiring specialized knowledge); and granting the temporary use of property, which covers leasing commercial or residential real estate.1APTA CE. Ley del Impuesto Sobre la Renta – Articulo 113-E Your income must come exclusively from these categories.
Starting a new business without a prior year to measure against is not a barrier. You can opt in as long as you reasonably estimate your income will stay under the cap. If your first year covers fewer than twelve months, the law requires you to annualize: divide what you earned by days operated, then multiply by 365.1APTA CE. Ley del Impuesto Sobre la Renta – Articulo 113-E That annualized figure decides whether you qualified.
Every participant must keep an active registration in the Registro Federal de Contribuyentes (RFC), the Mexican federal taxpayer registry.2Gob.mx. Inscription at the Federal Taxpayer Registry An active e.firma (digital signature) and an enabled Buzón Tributario (electronic tax mailbox) are also required to stay in the regime.3Servicio de Administración Tributaria. Requisitos y Obligaciones para Personas Fisicas que Busquen Permanecer en el RESICO Losing either one can cost you the simplified status.
Who Cannot Use RESICO
Article 113-E lists four categories of individuals who are barred from the regime regardless of income:
- Partners or shareholders of legal entities, and related parties as defined under Article 90 of the ISR law. This catches many people off guard because it includes even minority stakes.
- Foreign residents with a permanent establishment in Mexico.
- Taxpayers with income that benefits from a preferential tax regime.
- Individuals who receive income under fractions III, IV, V, and VI of Article 94 of the ISR law, covering fees paid to board members, administrators, and similar arrangements treated as salary for tax purposes.
The SAT specifically flags shareholders and related parties as a compliance priority.3Servicio de Administración Tributaria. Requisitos y Obligaciones para Personas Fisicas que Busquen Permanecer en el RESICO The exclusions are designed to keep larger operations from splitting income across individuals to capture the low rates.1APTA CE. Ley del Impuesto Sobre la Renta – Articulo 113-E
Rates and How the Math Works
RESICO applies the following rates to gross monthly income:
- Up to 25,000 pesos: 1.00%
- Up to 50,000 pesos: 1.10%
- Up to 83,333 pesos: 1.50%
- Up to 208,333 pesos: 2.00%
- Up to 291,666 pesos, the monthly equivalent of the 3.5 million annual cap: 2.50%
Here is what many people miss when they first read those numbers: you cannot deduct business expenses. No office rent, no supplies, no vehicle costs, no employee salaries. The tax applies to your total gross income, and the low rates are set to absorb costs in aggregate. If your business runs high operating expenses relative to revenue, do the math before switching. The general regime with full deductions can leave you paying less.
Monthly Provisional Payments
You file and pay a provisional monthly return by the 17th of the month following the reporting period. The payment is the corresponding rate applied to your total invoiced and collected income for that month. No credit for expenses, prior losses, or other offsets.
Annual Return
An annual return is due in April of the following year. It reconciles your twelve monthly payments against total annual income. Overpayments can be refunded or applied to future payments. Deductions are not permitted here either.
Withholding When You Invoice Companies
When a RESICO individual provides services to or does business with a legal entity, the company withholds 1.25% of the gross payment, excluding IVA. That withholding counts as a credit against your monthly provisional payment. The company deposits the net amount to you and remits the withheld portion directly to the SAT. If most of your clients are companies, those withholdings may cover a large share of your monthly obligation, and you reconcile the difference on your provisional return.
VAT Is a Separate Obligation
RESICO simplifies income tax only. Value-added tax (IVA) is untouched by it. Most goods and services in Mexico carry a 16% IVA rate, and RESICO taxpayers charge, collect, and remit IVA on the same terms as anyone else. The monthly IVA return is due on the same schedule as the ISR provisional payment, by the 17th of the following month. Forgetting IVA is one of the fastest ways to build up tax debt while believing you’re compliant.
Electronic Invoices Are Mandatory
Every RESICO taxpayer must issue electronic invoices, known as Comprobantes Fiscales Digitales por Internet (CFDIs), for all transactions. Since 2024, all invoices must use CFDI version 4.0, which requires the recipient’s full name, RFC, tax regime, and tax domicile.4Servicio de Administración Tributaria. Formato de Factura (Anexo 20) The invoice also has to indicate whether the transaction is an export and specify its tax treatment.
For sales to the general public where you don’t collect the buyer’s tax information, you can issue a global CFDI bundling multiple transactions. Global invoices must show the periodicity, the month covered, and the year.4Servicio de Administración Tributaria. Formato de Factura (Anexo 20) Under current rules, a global CFDI can be canceled through the last day of April of the following fiscal year if a correction is needed.
Registering or Switching Through the SAT Portal
If you already have an RFC and are switching to RESICO from another regime, this is an update to your registration, not a new one. Start at the SAT website, go to the RFC procedures section (Trámites del RFC), and choose the option to update economic activities and obligations.5Servicio de Administración Tributaria. Inscripcion y Avisos al Registro Federal de Contribuyentes para Personas Log in with your RFC and e.firma or contraseña (portal password).
Enter the start date for the new regime and select the business activities that match your income sources from the SAT catalog. The summary screen lists your new obligations: ISR provisional payments, the annual return, and IVA obligations if applicable. Confirm and submit with your digital signature. The portal generates an acknowledgment of receipt (Acuse de recibo) that is your official proof of enrollment. Save or print it right away.
If you don’t already have an RFC, you register that first through an in-person appointment at the SAT.2Gob.mx. Inscription at the Federal Taxpayer Registry The e.firma likewise requires an in-person appointment at a SAT office, where fingerprints and other biometric data are collected. The Buzón Tributario has to be activated with a current email address and mobile phone number, and ignoring it doesn’t stop the SAT from sending you legally binding notices through it.3Servicio de Administración Tributaria. Requisitos y Obligaciones para Personas Fisicas que Busquen Permanecer en el RESICO
Losing RESICO Status
There are two involuntary exits from RESICO, and they have very different consequences.
Exceeding the Income Cap
If your income crosses 3.5 million pesos at any point in the year, you must pay taxes under the general regime starting the month after you exceed the limit.1APTA CE. Ley del Impuesto Sobre la Renta – Articulo 113-E The general regime uses higher progressive rates but allows full expense deductions. If your income drops back below the cap in a later year and you have stayed current on all obligations, you can return to RESICO.
Noncompliance With Obligations
If you’re removed for failing to file returns, not activating your Buzón Tributario, letting your e.firma lapse, or otherwise breaking the regime’s rules, you cannot return. The law draws a hard line: noncompliance-based removal is permanent, income-based removal is not. That distinction is what makes staying on top of filings and documentation more important than it can look when you’re busy running a business.
Corporate RESICO Is a Different Regime
RESICO also exists for legal entities, with an annual income ceiling of 35 million pesos, and it works differently from the individual track. Companies under corporate RESICO can deduct expenses, though on a cash-flow basis (deductions apply when costs are paid, not when incurred). Investment deductions use accelerated rates, such as 25% for office furniture and 50% for computer equipment, compared to the lower percentages under the general corporate regime. The annual return is due in March rather than April. Exclusions differ as well: legal entities are disqualified if their shareholders hold controlling interests in other companies, if they operate through trusts, or if they’re in certain regulated industries such as banking. A corporate taxpayer that exceeds 35 million pesos transitions to the general corporate regime the following tax year. If you’re weighing RESICO for a company rather than yourself, the individual rules on this page don’t carry over.