Guanajuato acquisition tax: a UMA deduction, then a table

A new state law since July 2026

On 8 July 2026 the state published the Ley Hacendaria Municipal para el Estado de Guanajuato (P.O. 135, third part). It entered into force the day after publication, 9 July 2026, and repealed the 1989 Ley de Hacienda para los Municipios. The 2026 municipal revenue laws, published on 30 December 2025, still refer to articles 180 and 181 of the repealed law for the value and the reduction; the equivalent rules now sit in articles 42 and 338 of the new law. For a purchase on 15 October 2026, the new law applies. A matter already in process under the old law is concluded under it (transitory article 3).

Who sets what

The state law defines the taxpayer (anyone who acquires property in the state), the acts taxed, the base, the reductions and the procedure. It says the tax is “settled according to the rates that the revenue law of each municipality sets every year”, which may be fixed or progressive (art. 43). Each municipality’s Ley de Ingresos contains the table. Only Guanajuato, León and San Miguel de Allende were read for this guide; the others are not computed.

The base

Article 42: the base is the highest of the registered fiscal value, the transaction value and an appraisal by fiscal appraisers certified and authorised by the municipal treasury, or by certified valuers and valuation units; a bank appraisal may also be filed. The appraisal is valid for one year from its authorisation. If the property has not been modified, the buyer may ask in writing to use the previous acquisition value minus the base taxed at the last acquisition, if that acquisition was within the previous three years; in that case no incentives apply.

The reduction, then the table

Article 338-I reduces the value in all operations by ten times the annual UMA. At the 2026 UMA of MX$42,794.64 a year that is MX$427,946.40. Higher reductions exist for social housing (15 annual UMA) and popular housing (20), but only if it is the taxpayer’s only property or possession, and for homes bought with credit from public housing institutes. Article 339 gives the reduction once per unit or operation: adjoining properties, or parts of those already acquired by the same buyer within two years, do not get it. Each apartment in a building gets its own reduction, except for hotels.

The tables in the 2026 revenue laws, applied to the value after the reduction:

Each table gives a fixed amount plus the marginal rate on the excess over the lower limit.

Worked examples (calculations)

Base equal to the price, then the deduction of MX$427,946.40, then the official table. The state recording fee is MX$2,574 at the registry office.

With the registry fee, MX$3 million costs MX$26,718 in Guanajuato city, MX$31,938 in León and MX$84,581 in San Miguel de Allende. Notary fees and the appraisal are extra. See Guanajuato, León, San Miguel de Allende, the state page and the closing costs calculator.

Who pays, when, and the notary

The buyer pays within 30 days of the date of the contract or of the instrument that records the transfer, at the municipal treasury (art. 44). If the act is in an escritura pública (the notarial deed), the notario público (a state-appointed notary, a senior lawyer) signs and files the return (art. 45). For a deed signed outside the state, any interested party signs the return with a certified copy of the deed; for a court ruling, the taxpayer does. Acts taxed include a sale with reservation of title, a gift, a payment in kind and several steps of a trust, among them the beneficiary’s designation, the loss of the right to take property back and the assignment of trust rights (art. 41). Acquisitions by the Federation, the state and municipalities for public use are not taxed.

The recording fee

The state’s 2026 revenue law (art. 10-II) charges MX$2,574 to record a deed filed in person at the registry, or MX$2,460 if it is filed online. If one deed covers more than one property, the fee is paid for each. Purchases in which public housing agencies take part pay a lower MX$462.

Traps

• San Miguel de Allende repeats no deduction. Its law does not restate the ten-UMA reduction. Payotte applies it because article 338 covers “all operations”; without it the tax would be MX$17,118 higher. Confirm with the municipal treasury.
• Table limits are on the reduced value. The municipal tables say their limits apply after the reduction, so compare brackets after subtracting MX$427,946.40.
• Old article numbers. The December 2025 laws cite the repealed law; the new one governs.
• Buying next door. Acquiring an adjoining lot within two years loses the reduction.
• León’s top brackets. The table climbs to 6.01% on values above about MX$8.3 million after reduction, a steep slope for high-value purchases.

Which professional to consult

A notario in Guanajuato files the return and will tell you which value the treasury uses. A certified appraiser prepares the appraisal, which is valid for a year. See notary, appraiser and the overview property acquisition tax in Mexico.