Amendments to Mexico’s Customs Law and Federal Tax Code add challenges for IMMEX and RFE companies

Mexico has enacted extensive reforms to its Customs Law and Federal Fiscal Code that will add new obligations for state manufacturing programs – specifically the Recinto Fiscalizado Estratégico (RFE) and IMMEX companies or maquiladoras, which are export trade promotion programs granted under the Decree for the Promotion of the Manufacturing, Maquila, and Export Services Industry. These will encounter increased requirements for control, documentation, and higher exposure to liability.

Firms operating within these manufacturing structures should anticipate more rigorous audits, less tolerance for compliance deficiencies, and a significantly greater financial risk associated with errors or non-compliance with legal provisions and the Mexican Tax Authority’s (SAT) criteria. Additionally, given the changes to customs brokers’ provisions, companies may be subject to regular due diligence procedures from them to address the potential risk of cancellation.

These changes come amid expectations in Mexico for duties revenue to rise significantly in 2026, with projections of roughly MXN254.7 million (approximately USD14.5 billion) compared to MXN151.7 million (approximately USD8.7 billion) in 2025, with the possibility that a significant portion of this revenue will come from audit and inspection procedures.

Reforms to both laws have been approved and published in the Official Gazette. They will take effect on January 1, 2026.

Below, we discuss the new legislation and key changes for industry participants.

Increased controls over the manufacturing ecosystem

The reform package aims to strengthen regulation of the manufacturing ecosystem, which will bring increased compliance challenges for companies participating in Mexico’s trade promotion programs. The following obligations will be enforced for entities operating under RFE and IMMEX programs:

Recinto Fiscalizado Estratégico  

• Guarantee obligations and valuation scrutiny. Introduction of foreign goods for handling, storage, display, sale, or distribution must be guaranteed via accounts of guarantee or permitted letters of credit.


• Transport and brokerage constraints. For non contiguous RFEs, transport must be executed by certified companies and customs clearance must be conducted by brokers listed in the registry of certified companies.


• Technical proof of processing. Companies must substantiate, with technical and accounting documentation, that goods declared for processing were effectively elaborated, transformed, or repaired. In addition, customs dossiers must now include not only standard customs files but also financial flows, contracts, logistics costs, and valuation adjustments. Although this requirement will be included in this reform, it is important to consider that authorities have been requesting this information in practice during audit procedures.


• Duty deferral. As RFE operations may fall under the duty deferral program, this could affect company duty obligations.

IMMEX

• Enhanced documentation continuum. Parties to IMMEX transfers must create, request, provide, and retain the expanded Article 59(V) dossier from the moment goods are temporarily imported through transfer, including technical and accounting support for the production process to which transferred goods were subjected. While a similar provision was already in place, by including this information in the Customs Law, IMMEX companies must ensure their dossiers also include not only standard customs files but also financial flows, contracts, logistics costs, and productive process records, among others. This dossier responds directly to the authority’s materiality concerns raised in audit procedures.

Sanctions

In addition to other possible sanctions and penalties, the Customs Law reform introduces some substantial increments to penalties commonly associated with IMMEX and RFE companies:

• Prohibited imports. Importing goods that are expressly banned or restricted by law may trigger punitive fines ranging from 250 to 300 percent of the goods’ commercial value.


• Non-compliance with non-tariff measures. Failure to satisfy applicable non-tariff measures (such as technical standards, sanitary, and phytosanitary requirements, licenses, or quotas) may result in fines between 250 and 300 percent of the commercial value of the goods.


• Other penalties. All administrative fines above are imposed in addition to other penalties – including any applicable customs duties, taxes, and surcharges – and do not preclude seizure or forfeiture.


• Trade promotion programs and customs authorizations. It is possible that non-compliance could escalate, resulting in suspension or cancellation procedures for trade promotion programs and authorizations.

Federal Tax Code: New criminal exposure in trade and customs

Approved reforms to the Federal Tax Code introduce criminal risk touchpoints closely linked to customs operations, including:

• Presumptions of contraband and equivalent offenses tied to simulated or non existent virtual transfers, in addition to importations under temporary regimes used to evade control


• False origin certifications by importers to obtain preferential treatment under trade agreements, and


• Falsity offenses (Article 115 Ter) for submitting false data or altered documentation in procedures under the Federal Tax Code.

These changes heighten the stakes for documentation accuracy, inventory traceability, warehouse controls, and origin governance across processing regimes.

Customs brokers legal framework: Operational impacts

Moreover, recent reforms consolidate a stricter legal framework for customs brokers and customs brokerage companies that will directly affect day to day operations for manufacturers, including:

• Expanded obligations. Brokers are required to conduct more comprehensive know-your-customer (KYC) due diligence and reporting obligations, which include checking that clients have assets and infrastructure needed to carry out their operations, confirming that clients are not included in SAT’s blacklist (Article 69-B of the Federal Tax Code), maintaining electronic files for each operation, and reporting any action that may violate SAT’s criteria. For general import/export operations, brokers must also ensure compliance with non‑tariff measures and confirm that guarantees adequately cover potential taxes, duties, and related charges if discrepancies in estimated prices arise.


• Infrastructure verification and onboarding challenges. In addition to documentary checks, brokers must now verify that importers and exporters have the necessary physical and systems infrastructure to support compliant operations. It would be necessary to confirm regulations on how SAT expects compliance with this specific requirement.


• Program/value-added tax (VAT) certification alignment (IMMEX and RFE). Goods that are not covered by the exporter’s authorized program from the Ministry of Economy, or instances where the importer does not have VAT certification registration, may lead to patent or authorization cancellation after repeated occurrences. Due to this requirement, companies are encouraged to anticipate that customs brokers will perform regular due diligence to confirm valid operational authorization and reduce the risk of cancellation.

Key takeaways for manufacturing operators

Manufacturing operators are encouraged to consider the following actions and priorities:

• Mapping exposure across programs


• Strengthening valuation governance by building or upgrading processes and supporting documentation to be in line with obligations


• Re-underwriting broker relationships and confirming your brokers’ due diligence protocols to avoid operational bottlenecks, and


• Remaining vigilant and monitoring future updates, as it is highly probable that the SAT will introduce additional regulations to clarify or supplement the recent reforms.

Key dates and transitional considerations

Customs law reforms take effect January 1, 2026, with staggered implementation for certain provisions such as estimated price guarantees and maritime/temporary imports. Federal tax code changes regarding crimes will also begin on January 1, 2026.

Even though there is a proposal to amend 1,463 tariff lines in the Mexican Tariff Schedule, it is important to note that the Mexican Congress has decided to postpone this legislation, potentially until the conclusion of the current Chamber of Deputies’ legislature on August 31, 2027. Nevertheless, this does not mean it will not eventually be approved, although it could be modified before enactment (in addition, the Mexican President retains authority to increase tariffs under emergency powers). Importers are encouraged to monitor potential developments, model tariff and liquidity impacts, and analyze tariffs in other jurisdictions with which Mexico has preferential tariffs in place to identify substitute supply options in the event the law is ultimately published.

For more information, please contact any of the authors of this alert.

Leer este artículo en español.