What You Need to Know About the Fintech Ecosystem in Mexico

Ramón Frias
July 23, 2021

While many Latin American countries have begun to implement taxation on digital services, Mexico is currently leading the charge and has established a strong track record that other countries are hoping to match. Chile and Ecuador have both recently passed similar legislation with hopes of finding similar success and attracting more global fintech brands. 

The digitization of trading, financing and lending did not fit the mold set forth by the traditional financial systems in Mexico. Financial Technology companies and products (Fintech) saw this opportunity and filled the void, giving startups better access to financing.

With the enactment of the Integral Fintech Law (Ley Integral Fintech), Mexico’s legislature has specifically outlined the virtual trading activities they plan to regulate. When businesses have a clear regulatory environment, the assessment of risks, cost of compliance and perspective of growth can be better measured. By providing certainty to the players in the fintech field, Mexico is attracting new businesses.

Therefore, Mexico is quickly becoming a fintech hotspot. This could be traced back to Mexico being the second largest economy in Latin America and having the second largest population with access to the internet in the region. 

The Integral Fintech Law of Mexico was put in place to regulate organizations who supply financial services related to electronic payments, crowdfunding, cryptocurrencies, virtual assets and crowdsourcing. Organizations such as these are now being treated similarly to traditional financial institutions. While foreign and national currency trades are seen as a more traditional equivalent to Fintechs, these actions are currently untaxed by indirect taxes such as VAT. That treatment is not extended to the trade of cryptocurrencies.

Should consumers of Fintech products be worried? They should definitely keep an eye on the VAT repercussions of their transactions. In spite of the major developments introduced by the Fintech law, transactions carried out by the sector are not treated the same as their traditional equivalents. For instance, trading cryptocurrencies can be seen as subject to VAT in Mexico, which may lead to an increase in the cost of financing. Eventually, this may result in a negative outcome for the consumers of these financial products. Major regulatory updates are expected before the end of 2021, so consumers should be paying close attention to all regulatory developments related to Ley Integral Fintech.

It is important to remember that Fintech law focuses on three aspects of the larger industry: cryptocurrencies, crowdfunding and payment markets. Income tax and VAT apply to all three areas of industry, but the application of the VAT for instance is triggered in different ways depending on the transactions carried out by the IFT or the currency traded. 

The National Banking and Securities Commission approved the first license in February of this year. In the next few months, organizations that applied for authorization in 2019 will be receiving the government’s approval to operate as an FTI. We will continue to provide up-to-date information as it is made available. 

Take Action

Speak with a VAT expert today to see what you can be doing to keep up with the latest tax changes and remain compliant.

Sign up for Email Updates

Stay up to date with the latest tax and compliance updates that may impact your business.

Author

Ramón Frias

Ramon is a Tax Counsel on the Regulatory Analysis team at Sovos. He is licensed to practice law in the Dominican Republic and is a member of the Dominican Bar Association. He has a Certificate Degree from Harvard University as well as a J.D. from the Universidad Autonoma de Santo Domingo. Ramon has written a number of essays about tax administration and has won the first prize in the international essays contest sponsored by the Inter American Center of Tax Administrations (CIAT). Prior to joining Sovos, Ramon worked for more than 10 years in the Department of Revenue of the Dominican Republic where he served as Deputy Director. He is proficient in French and Spanish.
Share this post

North America Tax Information Reporting
March 22, 2024
Market Conduct Annual Statement Reminders and More

On the second Wednesday of each month, Sovos experts host a 30-minute webinar, Water Cooler Wednesday, to share the latest updates on statutory filings. In March, Sarah Stubbs shared information about the many filings due after March 1, from Market Conduct Annual Statements to health supplements for P&C and life insurers writing A&H businesses and […]

North America ShipCompliant
March 21, 2024
How Producers Can Build a DtC Shipping Market

Direct-to-consumer (DtC) shipping has become one of the leading sales models for businesses of all sizes and in all markets. The idea of connecting directly with consumers is notably attractive, as it helps brands develop a personal relationship and avoid costly distribution chains. Yet, for all its popularity, DtC is often a hard concept to […]

North America ShipCompliant
March 20, 2024
Key Findings from the 2024 DtC Beer Shipping Report

This March, Sovos ShipCompliant released the fourth annual Direct-to-Consumer Beer Shipping Report in partnership with the Brewers Association. The DtC beer shipping report features exclusive insights on the regulatory state of the direct-to-consumer (DtC) channel, Brewers Association’s perspective and key data from a consumer preferences survey. Let’s take a deeper dive into some of the […]

March 20, 2024
As the World Gets Smaller, Think Bigger About Global Tax Compliance

For the past few weeks back, my colleagues and I have been talking a lot about the importance of a global strategy when it comes to addressing today’s modern tax environments. On the heels of Sovos introducing the Sovos Compliance Cloud, many in our company’s leadership team have blogged about related topics and the critical […]

North America ShipCompliant
March 12, 2024
Florida HR 583 Set to Uncork Larger Format Wine Bottles

This bill was signed into law on March 28, 2024 and takes effect July 1, 2024. Florida wine lovers could soon enjoy a bigger selection of bottles based on a recent bill passed by the state’s legislature (HR 583) that would remove the existing cap on wine bottle sizes. What is Florida’s HR 583 bill? […]