Having an RFC doesn’t mean you owe anything. Assuming you’re fine without checking is how people get caught.
Quick context, then the offer — and mods, happy to remove if this isn’t allowed.
Most of us got an RFC because we had to. Bank account, lease, phone in your own name. Forty minutes at SAT, done, never thought about it again. For plenty of people, that really is the end of it — no obligation, nothing owed.
The problem is nobody tells you which case you’re in. And the assumptions people rely on are shakier than they look:
“I’m under 183 days, so I’m not a resident.” Tax residency isn’t a day count. It’s where your home and your center of life are. You can be under 183 days and still be a resident.
“I don’t earn anything in Mexico, so I’m fine.” If you’re a tax resident, it can be your worldwide income that matters — including a salary paid by a US employer into a US account. Where you earn it isn’t the whole question.
“My only income is Social Security.” That one’s often true — the treaty means US Social Security is generally taxed only by the US. But being exempt from paying isn’t automatically the same as being exempt from filing, and the moment there’s an IRA withdrawal, a private pension, or local income in the mix, it’s a different analysis.
SAT has started cross-referencing immigration records to find residents who never filed. The rules also moved this year: RESICO went to monthly-only filing. Whatever you read about this in 2024 isn’t necessarily true now.
I write plain-English guides for foreigners dealing with Mexican bureaucracy. The new one is The RFC Trap — What SAT expects from you now that you have one: a decision tree to work out your own status (including the many cases where the honest answer is “nothing to do”), the deadline calendar, the document checklist for your contador, what to ask, what it should cost, and your options if you’re already behind.
I’m not an accountant, and this isn’t tax advice. It’s the prep work — so you walk in knowing your own situation instead of paying someone by the hour to figure it out for you.
- It comes with a year of The Long Stay, a newsletter on taxes, residency, and trámites for people who came for a while and stayed. The guide tells you where you stand; the newsletter tells you when that changes.
- $1,700 MXN (~$97 USD) — Founding Member: guide + full year
- $820 MXN (~$47 USD) — guide only
- $2,220 MXN (~$127 USD) — founding, and you cover someone who can’t pay
And if money is tight, message me, and it’s free. No form, no explaining yourself. Someone else already paid for it.
