(post 181 of 263 )
There’s been major reforms to Mexican tax laws in the last couple of years and it’s getting pretty wild out there with a lot of misinformation, a lot of mistranslation, and a lot of freakouts about the fact that everyone, including residents with no tax obligations, need an RFC (tax ID). I’ve been waiting for a proper write-up about the situation to fully understand it, and this is it:
When I got here, I had it confirmed by both INM and Hacienda that because I only have foreign-sourced income and I pay my taxes to a country that has a tax treaty with Mexico, I do not need to get tangled up with taxes here.
That has changed. Now, Mexico wants everyone to have an RFC, and you have to get it in person with an appointment. There’s a couple of reasons behind it. The big one is to cut down on identity theft because our CURPs (SIN/SSN) are public information. By making people get their tax ID in person, they can verify people’s identity. And then there is the added benefit of being able to then track people’s financial activities, with the idea being to of course prevent tax fraud/get more taxes, but also to make it harder to keep financial dealings under the table as a back-handed way to choke off the flow of money to the cartels.
The article I linked to above really spells out everything and will probably reduce panic. I think the July 1st deadline is what is causing the most headaches, but it’s not like you’re going to get slapped in handcuffs if you don’t have your RFC by then. Hacienda knows that’s impossible. The July 1st deadline is actually for something else, explained in the article.
The RFC is apparently now needed to buy a car, and I’m going to need one when I do the official transfer of the house to my name. I also expect to seek out more credit products from BBVA in the next months. So I’m going to get started on this project before I absolutely need the RFC as it looks like there are huge delays in Mérida. The SAT office is walking distance for me, so not a huge deal to get to, so I’ll get in the virtual queue for an appointment and take my appointment when it comes. All official dealings here on on ice until I sort this out, but, again, no huge pressure at this time for me. I am just a bit frustrated that I could have done this when I was last at Hacienda, but at the time the word from on high was if you don’t need one, don’t get one.
From the same blog, here is how to get an RFC:
New process for getting an RFC number
The process was easy and I now have my place in the virtual line at the tax office of my choice:
It’s pretty neat to live in a country where things change, modernize, and improve, even if change, modernization, and improvements can be scary!