Property acquisition tax in Sinaloa: 2% plus a 10% add-on

Rate and the additional tax

Article 45 of the Ley de Hacienda Municipal del Estado de Sinaloa makes anyone who acquires land or buildings in a Sinaloa municipio liable and sets the rate at 2 % of the base. Article 105 then provides that, for the property-acquisition tax and for property tax, a single additional tax of 10 % is payable at the same time as the main tax; 80 % of it goes to social assistance and sport, and 20 % to the municipio’s recognised volunteer fire brigades. It is calculated on the tax, not on the price. The calculator applies it to Mazatlán and Culiacán, whose 2026 revenue laws I did not read; the state law is the source here.

Calculation on a price equal to the base: MX$3,000,000 × 2 % = MX$60,000, plus 10 % of that (MX$6,000) = MX$66,000. On MX$8,000,000: MX$160,000 + MX$16,000 = MX$176,000.

The base

The base is the higher of the transaction value and one appraisal, chosen by the buyer: a bank or commercial appraisal by an expert authorised by the municipal council, one by a recognised expert, one by a member of the state valuation institute, one by a corredor público (licensed commercial broker), or one by the state cadastral institute (article 48). The appraisal must reflect current real values (article 49), serves for six months and must be registered with the municipal cadastral board within 15 days of issue. The cadastral institute reviews commercial appraisals and may reject one that falls more than 10 % below the commercial value of the land. It has 72 hours to issue its opinion, and the review is a precondition to payment.

Reductions that may not fit an expensive home

Most of Sinaloa’s reductions sit below the value of a typical foreign purchase. I express the ceilings in pesos only as a calculation with the 2026 UMA of MX$117.31:

• New social-interest housing worth up to 5,500 daily UMA (MX$645,205) pays on 10 % of the base; from 5,501 to 9,500 UMA (MX$1,114,445) it pays on 32 %.
• Social-interest housing up to 6,500 UMA (MX$762,515) takes its base from a commercial value fixed by the cadastral institute.
• Inheritance and gifts between spouses and in the direct line are taxed at 2 % but capped at a flat 25 UMA (MX$2,932.75).

These are in the same article 45 and 48; none applies to an ordinary market sale of a higher-priced home.

Who pays, when and through whom

The buyer is the taxpayer. Payment is due within 30 calendar days of the act (article 50); for a sale with title reserved or a promise to sell the clock runs from the contract. For deeds, the law says that notarios, jueces, corredores and other officials with notarial functions calculate the tax under their own responsibility and file the return at the collecting office (article 51), even when no tax is due. Before any payment the buyer or the notary must show that the property is up to date on municipal taxes by a fiscal-solvency certificate, and the notary records that he or she saw it, transcribing it in the deed. Where the taxpayer is a land developer or real-estate firm selling under a title-reserved or promise contract in a private document, the firm itself withholds the tax and pays it by the 15th of the following month.

Recording fee

The Ley de Hacienda del Estado de Sinaloa, article 50-II, charges 0.75 % of the highest of the declared value, the appraisal used for tax and the cadastral value to record a deed that transfers ownership, with the fee capped at 750 daily UMA (MX$87,982.50). The calculator does not apply the cap, because it is reached only above MX$11,731,000 (calculation). A home whose cadastral value does not exceed 7,500 UMA (MX$879,825) pays on half the value; the calculator does not apply that either.

Calculation: MX$22,500 on MX$3,000,000; MX$60,000 on MX$8,000,000.

Traps

• The 10 % additional tax is easy to miss because it appears in a different chapter of the law.
• A bank appraisal older than six months cannot be used.
• The cadastral institute can reject a low appraisal before you pay.
• The notary’s calculation is under the notary’s responsibility, but the tax remains yours: ask for the breakdown in writing.

Which professional to consult

A notario público (a state-appointed notary, a senior lawyer) files and pays the tax; see the notary profession. An appraiser prepares the valuation that sets the base; see the appraiser profession.