Mexico: Second bi-monthly list, foreign providers of digital services subject to VAT

Second list in 2020 of foreign providers of digital services that are registered for tax purposes in Mexico.

The digital services tax rules introduced value added tax (VAT) obligations with regard to digital services provided through an online platform. 

With the introduction of rules for the tax treatment of digital services—effective 1 June 2020—foreign residents and companies without a permanent establishment in Mexico and that provide digital services to recipients located in Mexico must register with the taxpayer registry (Registro Federal de Contribuyentes—RFC), obtain a tax identification number, and comply with certain other formalities.

A provision of the VAT law in Mexico (Article 18-D, section 1) also establishes that the tax authority will disclose on its website and also by means of publication in the official gazette, a list of foreign residents that are registered in the RFC. The schedule for publishing this list is set out in the miscellaneous tax regulations of 2020 (rule 12.1.5) that provide the list is to be published bi-monthly (during the first 10 days of January, March, May, July, September, and November of each year). This list is relevant for recipients of digital services in Mexico because if a foreign provider of digital services is not registered in the RFC, the recipient of the digital services must consider that the services were imported and accordingly must directly remit the related amount of VAT. The first list was published in July 2020. 

The tax authority on 9 September 2020 published the second list of registered foreign providers of digital services. 

Source – KPMG