Crypto Taxation in Mexico: How Income and Capital Gains Are Treated

When you buy Bitcoin in Mexico, hold it for a year, then sell it for pesos, you might assume the profit is tax-free-especially since crypto isn’t legal tender. But that’s not how it works. Under Mexican law, crypto is treated as intangible movable property, not money. That means every time you trade, spend, or sell it, you could owe taxes. The rules aren’t written for crypto specifically, but they still apply-and they can catch people off guard.

When Does Crypto Become Taxable?

You don’t pay tax just because your Bitcoin went up in value. Tax kicks in only when you realize a gain-that is, when you actually do something with the crypto. This is called a realization event. Here’s what counts:

• Selling crypto for Mexican pesos or any fiat currency
• Trading one cryptocurrency for another (like BTC for ETH)
• Using crypto to pay for goods or services (buying coffee, paying rent, ordering online)
• Gifting crypto to someone else (in some cases)

Even if you never cash out, trading Bitcoin for Ethereum is a taxable sale of Bitcoin. The IRS in the U.S. treats it this way-and so does Mexico. The moment you exchange one asset for another, you’ve triggered a capital gain or loss based on the fair market value in pesos at that exact time.

How Individuals Are Taxed

Mexican individuals pay income tax on crypto gains using the same progressive rates as their salary or business income: from 1.92% up to 35%. There’s no separate capital gains tax rate. If you’re a high earner, your crypto profits could be taxed at the top rate.

But there’s a break: individuals get an annual exemption of up to 90,000 Mexican pesos (around $4,000 USD) on capital gains from movable property. That includes crypto. If your total gains from selling or trading crypto in a year are under that amount, you owe nothing. Many casual users-those who buy a little BTC, trade once or twice, or use crypto to pay for small purchases-fall under this threshold.

But if you’re active-trading weekly, swapping tokens, or using crypto regularly-you could easily blow past the exemption. Say you bought 0.1 BTC for 150,000 pesos in January, sold it for 220,000 pesos in March, then bought ETH and sold that for 250,000 pesos in June. That’s 100,000 pesos in gains. You’re over the limit. Now you owe tax on the full amount, not just the excess.

Corporate Crypto Tax Rates

Businesses don’t get the exemption. Any company operating in Mexico-whether it’s a startup accepting crypto payments or a trading firm-pays a flat 30% corporate income tax on all crypto profits. No distinction between short-term and long-term holds. No special treatment. Just 30% on net gains.

This applies even if the company holds crypto as an investment. If the value goes up but isn’t sold, no tax. But the moment it’s traded or sold, the gain is taxable. Companies that mine crypto also face this rule: mined coins are treated as income at their fair market value on the day they’re received. Later sales trigger additional gains.

What About Mining, Staking, and Airdrops?

There’s no official guidance, but tax professionals agree on how these are likely treated:

• Mining: The coins you mine are income when received. Value = peso equivalent at the time of mining. Later sales = capital gain.
• Staking rewards: Treated as income when received. If you stake ETH and get 0.05 ETH as a reward, that’s taxable income on the day it hits your wallet.
• Airdrops: If you receive free tokens, they’re income at fair market value when you gain control of them.
• Hard forks: If you get new coins from a fork (like Bitcoin Cash from Bitcoin), those are income at value when received.

These aren’t capital gains-they’re ordinary income. That means they’re added to your total income and taxed at your highest marginal rate. No exemption applies here.

Value-Added Tax (VAT) and Crypto

When you sell goods or services and accept crypto as payment, VAT applies. The sale is treated as if you sold the crypto and then used the proceeds to pay for the item. So if you’re a business and sell a product for 10,000 pesos worth of BTC, you must charge 16% VAT on the 10,000 pesos. You also record the BTC sale as income.

It’s double-layered: VAT on the sale, and income tax on the crypto gain. If the BTC value changes between receipt and conversion, you might even have a second taxable event when you convert to pesos.

Record Keeping Is Non-Negotiable

The Mexican tax authority (SAT) doesn’t give you a checklist for crypto, but you’re still required to keep records under general tax law. You need:

• Date and time of every acquisition (buy, mine, receive reward)
• Amount and type of crypto received
• Cost basis in pesos at the time of acquisition (including fees)
• Date and time of every disposal (sell, trade, spend)
• Amount received in pesos or equivalent crypto value
• Counterparty details if known (exchange, person, business)

Use a spreadsheet or crypto tax software. Manual tracking across multiple wallets and exchanges is error-prone. If you bought BTC on Binance, traded it on Kraken, and spent it on a local marketplace, you need to track all three. The SAT doesn’t care how messy it is-you’re still responsible.

Cost basis? Most experts default to FIFO (First-In, First-Out). That means the first coins you bought are the first ones you’re considered to have sold. It’s not officially mandated, but it’s the safest approach.

Reporting and AML Rules

There’s a hidden layer beyond income tax: anti-money laundering (AML) reporting. If you’re a non-financial entity-like an individual or small business-and you transact in crypto for more than 60,000 Mexican pesos (about $3,500 USD) in a single transaction or cumulatively over time, you must report it to the Ministry of Finance.

That’s not just for exchanges. It’s for anyone. If you pay a freelancer 70,000 pesos in ETH, you’re reporting it. If you receive 40,000 pesos worth of crypto from a client and later sell it for 45,000, you’re still under the threshold. But if you do multiple transactions that add up, you hit the limit.

Financial institutions-banks and licensed fintechs-face even stricter rules. They need approval from Banco de México to handle crypto. But even then, they can’t offer crypto services to the public. So most crypto activity happens outside the banking system, and that’s where the AML reporting falls on users.

What’s Not Taxed?

Only a few things are clearly safe:

• Holding crypto without selling, trading, or spending it
• Transferring crypto between wallets you own
• Buying crypto with pesos (no gain, no tax)

That’s it. Even giving crypto as a gift to a family member might be taxable if the value exceeds the exemption limit. There’s no gift tax exemption like in the U.S.

How Mexico Compares to Neighbors

El Salvador made Bitcoin legal tender in 2021-but reversed it in early 2025. Now, capital gains are taxed like everything else. Argentina offered a one-time crypto tax amnesty through March 2025 to bring hidden holdings into the system. Colombia and Brazil have clearer guidance and lower rates.

Mexico’s system is harsher than most. No preferential capital gains rates. No exemption for long-term holds. High reporting thresholds for AML. The 35% top rate for individuals is among the highest in Latin America. But the $4,000 exemption helps small users avoid compliance headaches.

What’s Coming Next?

Don’t expect a crypto-specific tax law anytime soon. President Claudia Sheinbaum’s administration hasn’t signaled any major changes. The ruling Morena Party prefers to tweak existing laws rather than write new ones. So expect more administrative interpretations, not legislative clarity.

That means uncertainty. Will DeFi yield be taxed as income or capital gain? What about NFTs? Will the SAT start auditing crypto wallets? No one knows. But with global pressure for transparency and increasing crypto adoption, more reporting requirements are likely.

Right now, the safest path is simple: treat crypto like any other asset. Track everything. Report gains. Pay what’s owed. Don’t assume silence means legality. The tax authorities don’t need to send you a letter to know you owe money-they just need to find the records.