Property transfer tax in Colima: Colima and Manzanillo

The table

The municipal laws apply this scale, with a fixed amount and a marginal rate on the excess:

Calculation on MX$3,000,000: 1,025 + (3,000,000 − 300,000) × 2 % = MX$55,025. On MX$8,000,000: 1,025 + (8,000,000 − 300,000) × 2 % = MX$155,025. Note that the rate is marginal: each extra peso above MX$300,000 costs 2 centavos, so the effective rate approaches but never reaches 2 %. The steps join without a jump: the tax is MX$625 at MX$250,000 and MX$1,025 at MX$300,000 (both calculations from the table), so a price just over a threshold does not cost more than a price just under it. This is unlike the bracket tables of some other states, where the new rate applies to the whole value.

The base

Article 25 of each municipal law sets the base as the highest of the cadastral value, the commercial appraisal and the price of the transfer, in force when the operation takes place. The taxpayer may ask that the transaction value be used if it is higher than the cadastral value, and, in Manzanillo since Decree 236 of 31 December 2025, also higher than the commercial appraisal. For a naked-ownership transfer the base is 50 %, and article 27 gives a 50 % base in particular cases: gifts in the direct line and between spouses, adjudications in succession proceedings and judicial sales, dissolution of a marital property regime, and an eligible single mother of Mexican nationality with dependent children when the base is under 4,400 “salary units”. The last condition uses an outdated unit; I did not find what current figure it corresponds to, so ask the treasury.

Who is liable

Article 22 lists as taxpayers both those who transfer property and those who acquire it, among other categories. The law therefore does not make the buyer the only party answerable, so ask who is paying and keep the receipt. Under article 23, notaries and officials who issue a copy of a deed or process a document recording a taxable act without the tax having been paid are jointly liable, in addition to any penalty.

Deadlines and filing

The deadlines differ:

• Colima: within 15 days of the act (article 28).
• Manzanillo: within 30 calendar days.

For deeds the act counts from the moment it is raised to a public deed or registered. Taxpayers or notaries pay by a return filed with the municipal treasury, naming the notary and giving the deed’s date and number, the transaction value and the cadastral value (article 31). Separately, the notice to the cadastre, which notaries file, is due within thirty days of the act (article 20).

State recording fee

Article 62 Bis 1 of the state Ley de Hacienda charges, on the highest of the transaction, cadastral and commercial values:

• 9 UMA up to 3,814 UMA of value; 12 UMA from 3,815 to 4,964; 16 UMA from 4,965 to 6,116;
• above 6,116 UMA (MX$717,467.96), 0.3 %, with a floor of 17 UMA and a ceiling of 2,162 UMA (MX$253,624.22);
• plus 2 UMA (MX$234.62) for the examination of the document.

Calculation with the 2026 UMA of MX$117.31: MX$9,000 + MX$234.62 = MX$9,234.62 on MX$3,000,000; MX$24,000 + MX$234.62 = MX$24,234.62 on MX$8,000,000. A reduced 5-UMA charge exists for companies buying for commercial or industrial use, but not for resale or housing development.

Other municipios

I read the laws of Colima and Manzanillo only. Every other municipio of the state is outside the calculator, and a buyer there should read that municipio’s own law rather than infer from these two.

Traps

• The two municipios share a table but not a deadline.
• The base is the highest of three values, so a low price does not lower the tax.
• The seller is a named taxpayer too.
• The recording fee’s percentage works above about MX$717,000, which includes almost any foreign purchase.

Which professional to consult

A notario público (a state-appointed notary, a senior lawyer) prepares the return; see the notary profession. A registered appraiser provides the commercial value; see the appraiser profession.