Annual tax return in Mexico for 2026: the article 152 tariff, refunds and balances
The annual return compares the ISR withheld from your pay with the tax actually due on the whole year. Estimate your result, read the 2026 tariff and see why the two differ.
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For a salaried person in Mexico, the year’s income tax (ISR) is computed with the tariff in article 152 of the Income Tax Law, published for 2026 in Annex 8 of the Miscellaneous Tax Resolution. Taxable salary for the year is added up, any eligible personal deductions are subtracted, and the base is taxed as a fixed fee plus a percentage of the excess over the lower limit of its bracket, from 1.92% up to 35%. The ISR your employers withheld during the year, shown on your payroll CFDIs (Mexico’s digital payslips), is then subtracted. More withheld than due means a refund, called saldo a favor. Less withheld means tax to pay. With a single employer all year and no deductions, the monthly article 96 withholding usually matches the annual tax. Differences come from two jobs at once, a partial year such as an arrival or departure, or personal deductions.
ISR to pay
MX$41,420
Annual ISR MX$41,420 · marginal rate 21.36 %
| Taxable base | MX$300,000 |
|---|---|
| Fixed fee (art. 152) | MX$22,282.14 |
| Tax for the year | MX$41,420 |
| Withheld | − MX$0 |
| To pay | MX$41,420 |
What the 2026 tariff means at different income levels
| Annual taxable income | Bracket starts at | Fixed fee | Marginal rate | Annual ISR | Average rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MX$120,000 | MX$86,022.12 | MX$5,051.37 | 10.88 % | MX$8,748 | 7.3 % |
| MX$240,000 | MX$210,403.70 | MX$22,282.14 | 21.36 % | MX$28,604 | 11.9 % |
| MX$420,000 | MX$210,403.70 | MX$22,282.14 | 21.36 % | MX$67,052 | 16.0 % |
| MX$600,000 | MX$424,353.98 | MX$67,981.92 | 23.52 % | MX$109,294 | 18.2 % |
| MX$900,000 | MX$668,840.15 | MX$125,485.07 | 30.00 % | MX$194,833 | 21.6 % |
| MX$1,500,000 | MX$1,276,925.99 | MX$307,910.81 | 32.00 % | MX$379,294 | 25.3 % |
| MX$2,400,000 | MX$1,702,567.98 | MX$444,116.23 | 34.00 % | MX$681,243 | 28.4 % |
| MX$6,000,000 | MX$5,107,703.93 | MX$1,601,862.46 | 35.00 % | MX$1,914,166 | 31.9 % |
The average rate in the last column is what matters when comparing a Mexican salary with one abroad, and it stays well below the marginal rate. Someone on MX$900,000 a year faces a marginal rate of 30.00 % but pays 21.6 % of income overall. Social security contributions to the IMSS are separate and do not enter this calculation. For the monthly picture, the net-to-gross calculator combines both.
The article 152 brackets in full
| Lower limit | Upper limit | Fixed fee | Rate on excess |
|---|---|---|---|
| MX$0.01 | MX$10,135.11 | MX$0.00 | 1.92 % |
| MX$10,135.12 | MX$86,022.11 | MX$194.59 | 6.40 % |
| MX$86,022.12 | MX$151,176.19 | MX$5,051.37 | 10.88 % |
| MX$151,176.20 | MX$175,735.66 | MX$12,140.13 | 16.00 % |
| MX$175,735.67 | MX$210,403.69 | MX$16,069.64 | 17.92 % |
| MX$210,403.70 | MX$424,353.97 | MX$22,282.14 | 21.36 % |
| MX$424,353.98 | MX$668,840.14 | MX$67,981.92 | 23.52 % |
| MX$668,840.15 | MX$1,276,925.98 | MX$125,485.07 | 30.00 % |
| MX$1,276,925.99 | MX$1,702,567.97 | MX$307,910.81 | 32.00 % |
| MX$1,702,567.98 | MX$5,107,703.92 | MX$444,116.23 | 34.00 % |
| MX$5,107,703.93 | and above | MX$1,601,862.46 | 35.00 % |
The structure mirrors the monthly tariff used on payslips, which you can find in the ISR tax brackets page, with limits roughly twelve times larger. That is why regular pay from one employer usually produces a result close to zero at year end.
Arriving or leaving mid-year
Expatriates often start or end a Mexican assignment in the middle of the year, and that is the most common source of a refund. Payroll withholds each month as if the salary will last all year. Take a manager hired in July on MX$70,000 a month: six months of withholding add up to MX$88,416. Annual tax on MX$420,000 is only MX$67,052, because half a year of income sits in lower brackets. The MX$21,365 difference comes back as a refund if you file.
Whether income earned abroad in the same year also counts depends on when you became a Mexican tax resident, which is a question for a tax adviser and is outside this calculator. Departure works in reverse to arrival: a partial final year again tends to leave you over-withheld, and the return is how you recover it.
Two employers, one tax bill
Consultants and senior staff sometimes hold two payroll positions, for example with a Mexican subsidiary and a local affiliate. Each employer withholds as though its salary were your only income. With MX$40,000 from one and MX$20,000 from the other, withholding for the year totals MX$109,674. Annual tax on the combined MX$720,000 is MX$140,833, which leaves MX$31,159 to pay. A single employer paying MX$60,000 a month would have withheld MX$140,833, almost exactly the MX$140,833 due.
The same mechanism applies to the employment subsidy on low salaries: two employers can each apply it, and the annual calculation shows the gap.
Personal deductions, used with care
Personal deductions lower the base, not the tax itself, so the saving is roughly the deduction times your marginal rate. On MX$720,000 from one employer, MX$30,000 of deductions brings the year’s tax from MX$140,833 down to MX$131,833, a refund of about MX$9,000. Each deduction has conditions and limits set by the law, which this page deliberately does not quote in figures. Check them with the SAT or an adviser before you count on one. The simulator below assumes twelve equal months with one employer.
Refund or balance with a single employer?
Estimated refund
MX$4,272
| ISR withheld over 12 months | MX$41,420 |
| Annual ISR after deductions | MX$37,148 |
Excludes aguinaldo and other pay; assumes equal monthly withholding.
Year-end bonuses and the base
Mexican payroll includes statutory extras with tax-free portions: the aguinaldo (the Christmas bonus) up to 30 UMA, and the vacation premium and PTU profit sharing up to 15 UMA each. The UMA is an indexed unit of MX$117.31 a day in 2026, explained on the aguinaldo calculator page. Only the part above those caps goes into the annual base. If your employer withheld on the aguinaldo using article 174 of the regulations, the final tax is the same: the annual return evens it out.
What this guide does not cover
It handles salary income only. Freelance fees (honorarios), rental income and business income follow their own rules. It gives no filing deadlines and no filing thresholds, because those come from rules the SAT updates each year. What it does is estimate the outcome before you start, using the ISR withheld shown on your CFDIs. If the result is a refund, filing is how you claim it. For month-by-month withholding, use the ISR tax calculator.