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Pillar guide on mileage deduction in Mexico, SAT requirements, CFDI issuance for travel expenses, and gig-economy treatment (Uber, DiDi).
Mexican tax compliance has a feature that makes it stricter than Brazilian or US compliance: virtually every deductible movement must be tied to a valid CFDI (Comprobante Fiscal Digital por Internet) validated by the SAT (Servicio de Administración Tributaria) in near-real time. This applies to reimbursement of travel expenses (viáticos), fuel, maintenance, and vehicle-related services. Companies that pay mileage reimbursement without the corresponding CFDI or with a CFDI issued outside the parameters lose deductibility — and the impact is not just non-deduction: it also includes the obligation to pay non-creditable VAT and income tax (ISR) on the reclassified amount.
This pillar guide consolidates everything a company operating in Mexico needs to handle mileage reimbursement defensibly before the SAT, with links to deep-dive articles on every point.
The Income Tax Law (LISR) defines in Article 28, Section V that travel expenses (viáticos) are deductible when applied beyond a 50-kilometer band from the taxpayer's establishment and when the beneficiary has an employment relationship or is rendering professional services. The Resolución Miscelánea Fiscal (RMF) updates limits and forms annually. For an employee using their own vehicle on company business, the practical rule is that the reimbursement can be treated as viático when there are individual expense receipts (fuel, tolls) or as a per-kilometer reimbursement when there is detailed trip recording with business purpose.
The difference between the two regimes is significant. Treating it as viático requires a CFDI for each unit expense (fuel with the correct fiscal tag, toll booths), while per-km reimbursement requires a documented internal policy and complete trip recording. Modern companies use the second model because it is operationally simpler and ties better to GPS tools. The article Mexican deductible mileage 2025 details the comparison.
Without a valid CFDI, there is no deduction. The payroll CFDI carries in the "OtrosPagos" node the specific concept for viáticos (key 003 in the SAT catalog), and the expense CFDI uses the "Concepto" tag with the appropriate product/service key. When mileage reimbursement is paid via payroll, it appears on the payroll CFDI as exempt income within legal limits or as taxable income when it exceeds them. When paid as out-of-payroll expense reimbursement, it generates a separate payment CFDI. The article CFDI and Mexican mileage reimbursement explains step by step the correct issuance and the most common mistakes that invalidate the document.
The current CFDI version is 4.0, with complement rules for Carta Porte for transport companies. For internal mileage reimbursement, the standard 4.0 version is enough, as long as the "RegimenFiscal", "UsoCFDI" and "FormaPago" fields are correct. Errors in those fields are detected by the PAC (authorized certification provider) at issuance and block emission.
The SAT does not publish an official rate for private-sector mileage reimbursement, but the Mexican market anchors itself in objective references. The range practiced in 2025 sits between MX$7.50 and MX$11 per km for passenger cars, depending on the region (Northern Mexico is more expensive due to diesel pricing) and vehicle type. For SUVs and pickups, the range climbs to MX$11 to MX$15 per km. The article Mexican fuel: real cost per km details the rate composition, considering the average magna, premium, and diesel prices published weekly by the Energy Regulatory Commission (CRE), and how that composition varies between Mexico City, Monterrey, and the northern border.
The Mexican policy must cover the same elements as the Brazilian or US policy, but with two specific additions: (1) handling of the 50-km rule from the establishment, which defines whether the expense is viático or local expense, and (2) CFDI issuance for each related expense where applicable. The article mileage policies for Mexican companies brings a Spanish-language policy template already adapted to SAT particularities, with clauses for handling exceptions, salary scales, and vehicle-type differentiation.
The policy must be approved by management, dated, and electronically signed. The SAT, in electronic audits, typically asks for the document as an attachment to the deductibility review process. Companies that pay mileage without a formal policy are the first to fall into deep review.
Mexico has one of Latin America's largest mobility-app markets. For drivers of Uber, DiDi, and equivalents, the tax treatment of mileage differs from the wage-earner equivalent: the driver is an individual with business activity and deducts real expenses (fuel, maintenance, depreciation) proportional to business use. Mileage serves as the proportionality criterion. The article Uber, DiDi, and Mexican mileage tax details the applicable Resolución Miscelánea, the digital platforms regime (RIPDR), and how ISR and VAT are withheld directly by the platform.
For companies that contract independent drivers for deliveries or logistics, the treatment changes again: mileage reimbursement paid to a self-employed provider must be tied to the CFDI for honoraria or services, with the mileage component highlighted as expense reimbursement.
The 50-km rule of LISR Article 28 is one of the most frequent sources of error in companies with regional sales force. For the expense to be treated as viático (with full deductibility regime), the business activity must occur outside a 50-km band measured in a straight line from the taxpayer's establishment. Activities within that band are still reimbursable, but follow the local-expense regime, with smaller limits. The practical difference: viático has a daily limit of MX$750 in-country and MX$1,500 abroad, while local expense has deductibility tied to the specific type (fuel 100% if with CFDI, maintenance 100%, etc.).
When mileage reimbursement goes through the employee's payroll, it integrates exempt income up to the limits of LISR Article 93 — outside the limits, it becomes taxable income and is subject to ISR withholding using the Article 96 Section I table. VAT does not apply because salary and internal reimbursement are not services. When the reimbursement is paid to a self-employed provider, it can integrate the VAT base (16%) with ISR withholding of 10% or 20% according to the provider's regime. This design requires accounting care — confusing the two flows generates a tax contingency easily detected by the SAT.
The Federal Tax Code (CFF) sets a five-year retention period for tax documentation, starting from the date of the annual return. For mileage reimbursements, retention involves four elements: (a) the payroll or expense CFDI, (b) the trip report with origin-destination-km-purpose, (c) expense receipts when the chosen regime is viático, (d) the internal policy in force during the period. Mexican subsidiaries controlled by US parents typically extend the period to seven years to cover SOX, and companies under Big Four audit usually request 10 years.
The SAT uses electronic auditing based on automatic cross-referencing of CFDI with monthly and annual returns. For mileage reimbursement, the audit flow starts when the system detects inconsistency between what was declared as deductible (annual return line) and what was issued as CFDI in the period. Frequent anomalies that trigger review: (1) reimbursements to employees without a corresponding payroll CFDI, (2) viáticos without proof of overnight stay or tolls, (3) volumes disproportionate to the number of active employees, (4) amounts above the limits of Article 28-V without documentation justifying the exception.
The taxpayer's regime changes the treatment of mileage reimbursement. A legal entity (Persona Moral) deducts as an operating expense within the general regime. An individual with business activity (PFAE) deducts in the Deductions Annex of the annual return. RIF (in phase-out) and RESICO (Simplified Trust Regime, the successor) have simplified rules with annual revenue limits. The choice of regime directly affects how much of the reimbursement is deductible and the form of substantiation. The article how Quilometragem supports Mexican companies explains how the platform adapts to each regime.
The platform generates mileage reports compatible with SAT requirements: each monthly report lists all trips with origin, destination, GPS-validated mileage, business purpose, and vehicle. CSV export is compatible with the main Mexican fiscal systems (CONTPAQi, Aspel, ClickBalance) and direct integration with Clara enables CFDI issuance for viáticos in the flow. The platform also applies the 50-km rule automatically, alerting when a trip falls inside or outside the band.
Mexican companies still paying mileage without a complete CFDI trail should adopt three measures within 90 days: (1) write and approve a formal policy aligned with LISR Article 28, (2) migrate capture to a tool with automatic GPS and CFDI integration, (3) adjust the chart of accounts to separate viáticos from local expenses from internal reimbursement. The result is preserved deductibility and zero exposure in electronic review.
Continue with the cluster: Mexican deductible mileage 2025, Uber and DiDi in Mexico, policies for Mexican companies, Mexican fuel cost, and CFDI and mileage reimbursement. Each one covers a specific angle of SAT compliance.
In 2026 the RESICO regime (Régimen Simplificado de Confianza) enters its fourth year, with fine-tuning from the Resolución Miscelánea Fiscal 2026 published by [SAT](https://www.sat.gob.mx) on 30 December 2025. RESICO individuals **cannot deduct individual expenses** — fuel and mileage included — so the RESICO vs. general-regime choice must be re-run yearly whenever vehicle costs exceed 15%–20% of revenue. RESICO companies saw the deductible-investment cap on automobiles raised to **MXN 200,000** (Art. 36 LISR, as amended), with fuel 100% deductible only when paid by card or registered cheque (Art. 27, fraction III LISR). The article Mileage deduction under Mexico's RESICO regime (2026) walks through the full checklist with a numerical simulation for a sales rep driving 1,800 km/month.
NOM-035-STPS remains in force, and the social-security treatment of reimbursement is unchanged: variable and substantiated = outside the IMSS base; flat monthly amount = reclassification risk. CFDI 4.0 (mandatory since April 2023, fully enforced in 2026) requires the recipient's RFC, ZIP code, and a correct tax-use code — any fuel receipt attached to a mileage report must be on a valid CFDI on the date of issue. The 2025 market range of MX$ 7.50–11/km has moved to **MX$ 8.50–12/km in May 2026**, reflecting the fuel exchange-rate stimulus and the general minimum wage adjustment.