Working in CDMX

Remote work, freelancing, Mexican tax registration, business structures, internet reliability, co-working spaces, and the startup scene.

Most foreigners in CDMX fall into one of three categories: employed remotely by a foreign company, freelancing for clients abroad or in Mexico, or building something here. The rules, complications, and practical setups differ significantly depending on which category you’re in. This chapter covers all three.

Working Remotely on a Tourist Visa

Let’s be direct about the legal situation. Working in Mexico is technically restricted to people with a work permit or residency that authorises employment. Working remotely for a foreign company while on a tourist visa is a legal grey area — Mexico has not passed digital nomad legislation, unlike some other countries.

The practical reality: Mexico does not enforce this. There have been no reported cases of foreigners being deported or sanctioned for working remotely on a tourist entry. Immigration officers are not asking about your laptop. The INM’s enforcement priorities are elsewhere.

The risk calculus: the grey area applies only to working for foreign clients and foreign employers. Working for a Mexican company or Mexican clients without proper registration is a different matter and does carry more risk if your employment is visible.

For people who want to operate cleanly: get temporal residency (Chapter 3). It authorises you to work in Mexico legally, removes the grey area, and opens banking and tax options that make everything else easier.

“If you’re paying taxes in Mexico as a tax resident of any kind, then you want to know about the RESICO law, which has a 2.5% income tax ceiling for independent contractors.” — business community member

RESICO — The Tax Regime That Actually Makes Sense

RESICO (Régimen Simplificado de Confianza) is a simplified tax regime introduced in 2022 for individuals (personas físicas) earning up to 3.5 million MXN per year. The tax rate runs from 1.7% to 2.5% of gross revenue — one of the most competitive freelancer tax rates in any major country.

To register under RESICO you need: Mexican residency (Temporal or Permanente), a CURP, and an RFC. You register at SAT, declare your income monthly via the SAT portal, and pay the simplified rate. Monthly declarations take about 20 minutes once you know the system.

What RESICO covers: consulting, professional services, creative work, freelance work of any kind — essentially any service-based income. It does not apply to corporations (personas morales) or to people earning more than 3.5 million MXN per year.

Critical caveat: RESICO has no deductions. You pay the rate on gross revenue, not on profit. If you have significant business expenses, a traditional régimen general allows deductions but at a higher rate. For most solo freelancers, RESICO is the better deal.

“You register in Mexico as persona física under RESICO. The type of activity is consulting services. On this regime, turnover can be up to 3.5 million pesos and the tax rate is from 1.7–2.5%. Every month you close your services with an act of completed work.” — business community member explaining the structure

“There are no deductions allowed under RESICO. If your restaurant earns $10 but your costs were $5, you are still taxed on the $10. For service businesses with low overhead it’s excellent; for operations with significant costs, less so.” — business community member, clarifying the trade-off

| 📊 RESICO vs US Taxes US citizens don’t escape US tax obligations by becoming Mexican tax residents. The FEIE (Foreign Earned Income Exclusion) lets you exclude a portion of income from US taxes while abroad. Get a US-based accountant who works with expats before changing your tax structure. The two systems interact in non-obvious ways. | | --- |

Issuing Invoices to Mexican Clients

Mexican companies need formal tax invoices — facturas — to deduct their payments from their own taxes. A factura is a specific XML file generated through the SAT portal. Without an RFC registered under an appropriate regime, you cannot issue one.

If you have an RFC under RESICO, issuing facturas to Mexican clients is straightforward: log into sat.gob.mx, generate the invoice, send it. The client’s accountant will want the XML file, not just the PDF.

If you don’t have an RFC and a Mexican company wants to pay you, they can still do it via honorarios — a professional fee payment that they handle differently in their accounting. Some smaller Mexican businesses are comfortable with this. Larger companies are often not.

“Mexican companies can receive invoices and add them to their tax statements as payments made abroad. My company has bought tons of things from foreign providers and we’re fine with the document they sent.” — Mexican business owner on paying foreign contractors

“I just got a tax ID number and as a business owner, apparently unless I’m invoicing Mexican clients I don’t need to pay tax here. At least that’s what the person at SAT told me.” — expat business owner, sharing what they were told — get your own accountant to confirm

US LLC vs Mexican Entity — The Structure Question

A recurring question in the business community: should you operate as a US LLC (or company from another country) or register a Mexican entity?

US LLC: simpler to maintain, familiar, no Mexico registration required. Works well if all your clients are foreign and you have no employees in Mexico. Wyoming LLCs get recommended frequently online — the actual advantage over other states is modest for most use cases. The tax situation is nuanced: LLCs are pass-through entities taxed at your personal rate, which may be your home-country rate regardless of where you formed the LLC.

Mexican entity (Sociedad Anónima de C.V. or similar): required if you want to hire Mexican employees formally, take on Mexican investor money, bid on contracts with larger Mexican companies, or open a physical business. More complex to set up, requires a notario and ongoing accounting, but gives you full legal standing in Mexico.

The honest answer for most solo remote workers and small freelancers: your foreign entity or sole-proprietor status plus a Mexican RFC under RESICO is sufficient. You don’t need a Mexican company unless you’re building something that requires one.

“If you’re forming an LLC in Wyoming because the internet told you to, think twice. It’s not as simple as it’s presented. LLCs are pass-through entities taxed based on the state of residence you claim, which is independent of where you formed the LLC.” — business community member with direct experience

“I’ve been operating under my Florida LLC for two years. It works. Not optimal for Mexican clients but it’s not broken.” — expat business owner on pragmatic non-compliance

Hiring Mexican Employees

If you reach the point of wanting to hire Mexican employees — either for a local business or as remote team members for a foreign company — the rules are real and the penalties for ignoring them are real.

Mexican labor law (Ley Federal del Trabajo) requires formal employment contracts, IMSS registration (social security), profit sharing (PTU), aguinaldo (a mandatory 13th month of salary paid by December 20 each year), and paid vacation that scales with tenure. The minimum aguinaldo is 15 days of salary; more is customary.

Options for foreign companies hiring Mexican workers:

• EOR (Employer of Record) services: Deel, Remote, Globalization Partners, and similar platforms handle the Mexican legal employer relationship on your behalf. They manage payroll, IMSS, and compliance. You pay the platform; they handle everything. More expensive than direct employment but dramatically simpler for a foreign company with one or two Mexican employees.
• Mexican S.A. de C.V.: set up your own Mexican legal entity, hire directly. Full control, full compliance burden, requires ongoing Mexican accounting and legal support.
• Consulting contract (honorarios): appropriate for genuinely independent contractors. Not appropriate if the person works fixed hours, uses your equipment, and has no other clients — that’s an employment relationship by law regardless of what the contract says.

“The business will have deductions and one of them is our salaries as consultants. He will pay 2–3% RESICO rates and I will pay 25% non-resident professional services withholding tax.” — business community member describing a specific structure — consult an accountant before replicating

“One of my friends is looking for a personal assistant. Needs to speak English and Spanish. Prefer they be Mexican to support the local economy.” — expat business owner hiring locally — a common starting point

The Startup Scene

CDMX has a real tech and startup ecosystem and it’s growing. In Q2 2025, Mexico overtook Brazil in venture capital raised for the first time since 2012 — startups secured USD 437 million, up 85% year-over-year. The standout deal was Klar’s USD 170 million Series C, valuing the Mexican fintech at USD 800 million.

YCombinator has had Mexican companies in multiple recent batches. Nearshoring — the movement of manufacturing and tech operations closer to the US — is driving significant foreign investment into Mexican tech and logistics infrastructure. The peso’s strength relative to other LatAm currencies has made Mexico attractive as a base for regional operations.

The visible layer of the startup community in CDMX: Mexico Tech Week (annual, October), various founder meetups and networking events throughout the year, WeWork as the default co-working home for early-stage companies, and a growing ecosystem of accelerators and angel networks. Fintech is the dominant sector, followed by logistics-tech (driven by nearshoring) and health.

“My startup just wrapped up Y Combinator and we are hiring for key roles including a founding engineer and in-house content creator. The team is based in CDMX.” — founder, in 2024

If you’re building something here, the community is accessible. The networking events are real and worth attending. The investor community is smaller than Silicon Valley but present and active. Spanish helps but the tech community is meaningfully bilingual.

Internet and Working from Home

The single most underrated risk of remote work in CDMX: your building’s internet.

Fibre coverage in Roma, Condesa, and Juarez is good on paper. The issue is building infrastructure. Many older apartment buildings share a single connection between all units, routed through ageing in-building cabling. Peak hours — roughly 11am to 2pm and 8pm to 10pm — can see speeds drop significantly from what’s theoretically available.

The only way to know: run a speed test app (Speedtest by Ookla) during a video call at the apartment you’re considering, at peak time, before you sign anything. “We have fibre” means almost nothing without a test. If the landlord won’t let you test, factor that into your decision.

Backup options everyone who works from home should have:

• Telcel or AT&T mobile hotspot: your phone as a backup connection. The Amigo plan’s data is sufficient for emergencies. A dedicated mobile router is cleaner for regular use.
• Nearby cafe with reliable WiFi: know your two nearest reliable work cafes before you need them. The day your building internet goes out during a client call is not the time to start researching.
• Co-working day pass: most co-working spaces sell day passes. Coffeefy, WeWork, and others. If your work requires sustained bandwidth or you have back-to-back video calls, a co-working space is more reliable than most apartment connections.

“I need someone to help me work when I’m between check-out and check-in times or when there are power outages. The Coffeefy on Reforma saved me three times last month.” — remote worker on backup planning

“Hey, does anyone know how I can work remotely if my computer requires an Ethernet connection and tracks my IP?” — remote worker hitting a real edge case — VPN and a co-working space with hardwired connections is the answer

Co-Working Spaces

CDMX has a dense co-working market, ranging from dedicated professional spaces to hybrid cafe-workspaces. The main options used by the expat community:

WeWork

Multiple locations across the city — Varsovia (Juarez), Reforma, Insurgentes, Polanco among others. Reliable internet, professional environment, meeting rooms bookable by the hour. The WeWork subscription bought in Mexico gives you access to WeWork locations globally at Mexican prices — meaningfully cheaper than buying in the US or Europe. Day passes and hot desk memberships available. Good for people who need a professional address for their business.

Coffeefy Workafe

A hybrid cafe-co-working chain with multiple locations in Roma Norte, Condesa, and Reforma. Pay for a coffee and you can work there; memberships for regular users. Generally solid internet, longer tables suitable for actual work (not just a laptop perched on a coffee cup). Less formal than WeWork, more reliable than a regular cafe.

Art/Works Creative Co-Working

Located at Durango 272 in Roma Norte. A smaller, creative-community-oriented space. Mentioned repeatedly among the creative and entrepreneur community as a social hub alongside a workspace. Events, film screenings, and gallery shows alongside the co-working function.

Santander Work Cafe (Reforma)

Free to use with the purchase of a coffee. On Paseo de la Reforma. Seats, WiFi, and an upscale cafe environment. Legitimately useful for solo work sessions or small meetings. Limited seating so best for off-peak hours.

OpenHub Co-Working

Mentioned in the community as an alternative to WeWork for people who find WeWork’s atmosphere too corporate. Smaller, more community-oriented.

| 💡 The WeWork global trick A WeWork All Access membership bought in Mexico costs significantly less than the equivalent in the US or Europe but gives you access to all global locations. If you travel frequently and use WeWork in multiple cities, buying your membership here is the cheapest way to do it. | | --- |