Mexico
Last verified August 7, 2026
Written for U.S. passport holders
Working on a Tourist Stay
- A 180-day FMM tourist permit does not authorize employment — remote work for a U.S. employer or clients is not, strictly speaking, legal on a tourist entry, though enforcement against quiet remote workers is minimal in practice.
Tax Residency Isn't Just a Day Count
- Mexico's Federal Tax Code (Article 9) does not actually use a simple 183-day test — it looks at where you've 'established your home,' and if you have homes in two countries, at your 'center of vital interests.'
- You can be classified as a Mexican tax resident by SAT even with fewer than 183 days present, if Mexico is genuinely your center of vital interests (for example, more than 50% of your total income comes from Mexican sources).
- Conversely, temporarily occupying a property purely for tourist purposes generally does not, on its own, count as 'establishing a home' in Mexico — even over an extended stay — as long as your actual center of vital interests stays elsewhere.
- SAT has been reported to be tightening scrutiny of long-staying foreigners, cross-referencing migration and tax data, particularly around Americans and digital nomads earning in dollars without paying local tax.
The Gotcha
The '183 days' figure that gets repeated everywhere for Mexico isn't actually how Mexican tax residency works — there's no day-count test in the law itself. SAT looks at where your 'center of vital interests' is, which means someone with most of their income Mexican-sourced could become a tax resident well before 183 days, while someone genuinely just staying in tourist housing might not trigger residency even after a long stay, as long as their real center of life stays elsewhere.
Sources
This page was drafted from the primary sources below. Rules change — check the linked page directly before relying on any of this.
- Código Fiscal de la Federación (incl. Art. 9) — Servicio de Administración Tributaria (SAT), Mexico