Mexico’s Ley del Impuesto sobre la Renta (LISR) is the federal income tax statute most relevant to crypto-asset income and gains in Mexico. As of June 30, 2026, the LISR is in force. The official consolidated text states that the current law was published in the Diario Oficial de la Federación on Dec. 11, 2013, entered into force on Jan. 1, 2014, and was last reformed on Apr. 1, 2024.
This profile tracks the LISR as it applies to crypto-assets through general income and asset-disposal concepts. It should not be read as legal, tax, investment, or compliance advice. The LISR does not create a standalone cryptocurrency tax chapter, does not define “cryptocurrency,” and does not expressly assign every token activity to a single tax category.
Key income tax treatment for crypto-assets in Mexico
Article 1 of the LISR sets the basic jurisdictional scope for income tax. Mexican resident individuals and legal entities are subject to income tax on income regardless of where the source of wealth is located, while non-residents are covered when income is attributable to a Mexican permanent establishment or to Mexican-source income.
For legal entities, Article 16 provides that resident legal persons accumulate all income received in cash, in goods, in services, in credit, or of any other type. For individuals, Article 90 uses similarly broad language for resident individuals who obtain income in cash, in goods, in credit, in services where specified by law, or of any other type. These provisions are the main starting point for analyzing whether crypto-related receipts, disposals, business income, mining income, staking rewards, or other token-linked amounts may be income under Mexican law.
Asset disposal and gains framework
Where a crypto-asset transaction is analyzed as an asset disposal, the relevant LISR provisions are in Title IV, Chapter IV, on income from the alienation of goods. Article 119 provides that income from the alienation of goods is determined by reference to the cases provided in the Código Fiscal de la Federación, and Article 120 sets the annual income-tax calculation for gains from those disposals.
Article 121 lists deductions available to individuals for disposals, including verified acquisition cost and certain commissions or mediation payments connected with acquisition or disposal. Article 126 contains provisional-payment rules, including a provision for the alienation of “other goods” under which the payment may be calculated at 20% of the total transaction amount, subject to the article’s conditions and exclusions. Because the statute does not expressly mention crypto-assets, editors should frame this as the general statutory framework that may be relevant, not as a bespoke crypto-tax rule.
Regulatory context for “virtual assets”
The financial-regulatory definition comes from the Ley para Regular las Instituciones de Tecnología Financiera. Article 30 defines a virtual asset as an electronically recorded representation of value used by the public as a means of payment for legal acts and transferable only through electronic means. It excludes Mexican legal tender, foreign currency, and assets denominated in legal tender or foreign currency. The same article states that fintech institutions may operate only with virtual assets determined by Banco de México and require prior authorization.
The Servicio de Administración Tributaria also treats certain virtual-asset activities as vulnerable activities under Mexico’s anti-money laundering framework. SAT guidance describes non-financial entities that provide exchange platforms, wallets, purchase and sale sites, ATMs, or similar digital platforms as supervised for this activity under the LFPIORPI framework. That AML registration and notice regime is separate from the income tax rules in the LISR.
Status and editor notes
A February 2024 Cámara de Diputados Gaceta initiative proposed adding a crypto reference to Article 129 of the LISR. The official consolidated LISR text used for this profile does not show that proposal as operative law. Editors should monitor future tax reform packages, SAT rules, and judicial or administrative interpretations before describing any crypto-specific income tax regime as enacted.