Guide · Owning and inheriting

Property tax (predial) in Mexico: how municipios set it

Predial is a municipal property tax whose rate, due dates and discounts differ by place. Rules read for Benito Juárez, Puerto Vallarta, Mérida and Mexico City.

Checked on against the official sources at the bottom of the page.

In short

Predial (the annual property tax) is collected by the municipio (the local authority), and the Constitution leaves the rates to the state legislatures, so no single national rate exists. In Benito Juárez (Cancún), Quintana Roo, the 2026 text reads 2.45 per thousand of cadastral value for a built property. In Mexico City a progressive table applies every two months, with a 8 % reduction for paying all six instalments in January. Owners, buyers under a promise of sale and fideicomiso beneficiaries can all be liable, so check the local rule before you budget.

Who sets the tax

Article 115, section IV(a) of the federal Constitution says that municipios “percibirán las contribuciones, incluyendo tasas adicionales, que establezcan los Estados sobre la propiedad inmobiliaria”. In plain terms: the state congress writes the rules, and the municipal treasury collects the money. The base is almost always the valor catastral (cadastral value, the municipal register’s valuation), not the price you paid. See cadastral value in Mexico for how that value arises.

This guide reads four local texts. They are examples, not a map of the country. Every other municipio has its own law, usually a Ley de Ingresos (annual revenue law) or a Ley de Hacienda, and you should read that one.

Four places, four designs

Benito Juárez, Quintana Roo. The municipal Ley de Hacienda (last reform in the state gazette on 10 December 2025) sets rates “al millar” on cadastral value. For urban and suburban property the table reads 6.2 for vacant land (baldío) and 2.45 for both residential and non-residential buildings, whether under construction or in use. Rural land is 1.9. The law makes the Dirección de Catastro of the municipal treasury responsible for the value (art. 15). Payment is in advance, by two-month periods, in the first ten days of January, March, May, July, September and November (art. 16). The tax also covers someone who holds the property under a promise of sale or a sale with reservation of title, even when the contract arose from a fideicomiso operation (art. 6, IV b).

Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco. The 2026 Ley de Ingresos (state decree 30058/LXIV/25) uses a bracket table per two-month period. The formula in the law is ((VF − LI) × T) + CF: take the fiscal value (VF), subtract the lower limit of its bracket (LI), multiply by the marginal rate (T) and add the fixed fee (CF). The first bracket runs from MX$0.01 to MX$584,775.00 with a fixed fee of MX$0 and a rate of 0.000250 on the excess; the second starts at MX$584,775.01 with a fixed fee of MX$146.20. Paying the full year in one payment earns a factor of 0.85 in January, 0.90 in February and 0.95 in March and April (art. 39). Undeveloped urban lots are taxed at a separate rate of 0.80 per thousand plus a fixed MX$6 per period (art. 38).

Mérida, Yucatán. The municipal Ley de Hacienda (last reform in the state gazette in December 2024) applies a table of fixed fee plus a rate on the excess over the lower limit. The result, or 1.0 times the UMA if that is higher, is divided by twelve, so the tax falls due monthly (art. 47). Each month is due in the first fifteen days of the following month, except January, due on the last day of February (art. 48). Someone who pays a full year in January or February gets a 0.10 bonification (a 10 % reduction). The same law can switch the base to rents or other consideration when the property is let and that produces a higher tax (art. 49). Note the contrast with the general Yucatán municipal law, which divides the annual tax into six bimonthly parts: a municipality may differ from the state default.

Mexico City. Article 130 of the Código Fiscal (reform of 19 December 2025) sets a bimonthly tariff in sixteen ranges, A to P. Range A covers cadastral values from MX$0.12 to MX$235,095.02, with a fixed fee of MX$231.00 plus 0.02080 % of the excess; range P starts above MX$35,629,332.12. Payment falls in February, April, June, August, October and December (art. 131). Paying all six in January brings an 8 % reduction, and 5 % in February. The taxpayer determines the cadastral value, for instance by an appraisal, and the appraisal filed for the acquisition tax is treated as the base for predial too (arts. 126-127).

Debts follow the property

Local law often makes the sale conditional on a clean predial account. In Quintana Roo’s Benito Juárez, a buyer must hand in a constancia de no adeudo (certificate of no arrears) issued by the municipal treasury, showing the account is current at the date of the deed. In Mexico City, article 27 of the Código Fiscal requires certificates of predial and water arrears covering the last five years before the notary executes the deed, and the registry will not record the deed without them. See the certificate of liens for the separate registry certificate.

Rental owners

The four texts read tax the property, not the nationality of its holder. The income side is separate: for a resident individual who lets a home, article 115 of the Ley del Impuesto sobre la Renta (a federal law) lists predial among the deductions from rent. Rental income of non-residents is a distinct subject, handled in the rental tax guides.

What it costs

Predial is a formula, not a fixed price: cadastral value × the local rate or table, divided over the payment periods the local law sets. Discounts for early payment exist in each of the four texts above, but they are set locally and can change every year with the new revenue law. The same texts also grant reductions to older people, pensioners or people with disabilities, usually for one owner-occupied home. Those benefits are written for Mexican citizens in some laws (Puerto Vallarta says so expressly), so read the condition before assuming you qualify.

Which professional to consult

  • A real estate lawyer can read the local revenue law and the cadastral record and tell you what applies to your property.
  • A notary collects the arrears certificates and checks the account at the time of the deed.
  • An appraiser prepares the valuation used as a base where the local law allows an appraisal.

You can also ask the municipal treasury directly for the current account statement.

Frequently asked questions

Is predial the same all over Mexico?

No. The Constitution gives municipios the proceeds, but the rates, brackets, due dates and discounts come from each state’s laws and each municipio’s annual revenue law.

Does predial depend on the price I paid?

Usually on the cadastral value, which can differ from the price. Mexico City also treats the appraisal filed for the acquisition tax as the base for predial.

Can I pay once a year?

In all four places read, yes, and it comes with a discount if paid in the first months of the year: 8 % in Mexico City in January, a factor of 0.85 in Puerto Vallarta in January, and 0.10 in Mérida in January or February. Benito Juárez leaves the discount to a municipal council decision.

Do I owe predial before I own the property?

In Benito Juárez the tax also covers the person who holds the property under a promise of sale. Your contract and the local law decide who pays; the municipal treasury can say what is registered.

Where do I check the current rate?

In the Ley de Ingresos or Ley de Hacienda of your municipio for the current year, on the state congress site or the official gazette.

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Sources

All guides · Payotte Mexico