When you buy, sell, or trade cryptocurrency in Mexico, you’re not just moving digital assets—you’re creating a taxable event, a transaction that triggers legal reporting obligations under Mexican tax law. Also known as crypto income, these events are tracked by the SAT, Mexico’s tax authority, known as Servicio de Administración Tributaria. Whether you made $50 or $50,000, the rules apply the same way: if you profited, you owe taxes.
The SAT, Mexico’s tax authority, known as Servicio de Administración Tributaria doesn’t treat crypto like cash. It treats it like property. That means every time you sell Bitcoin for pesos, swap Ethereum for a stablecoin, or use crypto to buy a laptop, you’ve triggered a capital gain or loss. You need to track the purchase price, the sale price, and the date. No exceptions. Even if you didn’t cash out to a bank account, the SAT still wants to know. And they’re getting better at catching it—through exchange data sharing, wallet analysis, and cross-referencing with banking records. This isn’t theoretical. In 2024, hundreds of Mexican crypto users received audit letters simply because their wallet activity didn’t match their declared income.
There’s no blanket ban on crypto in Mexico. But there is a strict requirement: you must report all crypto transactions in your annual tax return, even if you didn’t make a profit. Losses can offset gains, but only if you document them properly. The SAT doesn’t care if you used Binance, KuCoin, or a P2P app. What matters is the value in Mexican pesos at the time of the trade. If you bought 0.1 BTC for 150,000 MXN and sold it later for 200,000 MXN, you have a 50,000 MXN taxable gain. That gain gets added to your other income and taxed at your personal rate—up to 35%. And yes, staking rewards, airdrops, and mining income? Also taxable. The SAT considers them ordinary income, not capital gains.
Many people think they’re safe if they don’t withdraw to a bank. They’re wrong. The SAT doesn’t need your bank statement—they just need your wallet addresses and transaction history. Tools like Koinly or CryptoTaxCalculator can auto-import your trades from most exchanges and generate the reports the SAT requires. You don’t need to be an accountant. But you do need to be organized. Failing to report isn’t just a fine—it’s a criminal offense under Mexico’s tax code. Penalties start at 20% of the unpaid tax and can go up to 75% if the SAT decides you hid it on purpose.
What you’ll find below isn’t a list of opinions. It’s a collection of real cases, breakdowns, and warnings from people who’ve been through it. Some posts explain how to track your trades without spending hours. Others expose fake airdrops that tricked people into giving up private keys—then got reported as income they never received. There are guides on how to handle cross-border trades, what happens if you move crypto to a foreign exchange, and how to prove your cost basis when you bought years ago. This isn’t about avoiding taxes. It’s about doing them right—so you don’t end up paying more than you owe, or worse, losing your freedom over a misunderstood rule.
Learn how crypto income and capital gains are taxed in Mexico, including rates, exemptions, reporting rules, and what counts as a taxable event. Understand your obligations as an individual or business.
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