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Latin America

US adjacent operations seeking real substance, Mexico

Mexican operations satisfy economic substance tests for Pillar Two and CFC analyses far better than tax haven structures. Time zone overlap with US clients is total, and bilingual talent is abundant in Monterrey, Guadalajara and CDMX.

Real substanceUS time zoneBilingual talent
Start setup {placement} 4 min · no card required
Corp tax
30%
Fastest setup
8 weeks
Tax treaties
60
Region
Latin America

What you'll need

  • No resident director required
  • Local registered office required
  • Economic-substance test applies
  • Minimum capital: No minimum capital
  • Administrative language: Spanish
  • Legal system: Civil law

Tax and treaty profile

  • Corporate tax 30%
  • Tax treaties 60
  • VAT rate 16%
  • Withholding on dividends 10%
Key treaty partners
United StatesCanadaSpainGermanyUnited KingdomJapan

Banking and payments

  • Banking takes 2 to 4 weeks with KYC
  • Stripe supported
  • Wise supported
  • EMI license framework available

Considerations

If you license IP or pay heavy royalties

Mexico applies 35% withholding tax on royalties to non residents, a punishing rate for IP licensing structures. The CFC regime (REFIPRE) triggers when foreign income is taxed below 22.5%, capturing many holdco arrangements.

35% royalty WHTREFIPRE CFCIP licensing penalty