The SHCP announces a change in rules to equate the tax obligations of fintech companies with those of traditional banking, closing gaps.
The Secretary of Finance and Public Credit (SHCP) will implement a significant fiscal tightening aimed at Financial Technology institutions for the next fiscal year. At the same time, it will proceed to eliminate the tax deductibility applicable to payments made by commercial banks to the Bank Savings Protection Fund (Fobaproa). These measures, contained in the Income Law Initiative 2026, represent a deliberate effort to homogenize the tax landscape and prevent tax avoidance practices.
The official document presented by the federal agency details the identification of irregularities in the fulfillment of the obligations of withholding and payment collection by various fintech platforms that operate as intermediaries. In response, the legislative proposal explicitly establishes: “It is proposed that Collective Financing Institutions comply with the obligation to withhold and pay the Income Tax (ISR) and the Value Added Tax (VAT), corresponding to the operations in which they participate as intermediaries.”
Tax homologation for equal competition
During a press conference on the occasion of the presentation of the Economic Package 2026, the head of the SHCP, Edgar Amador, explained the rationale behind this decision. He stressed that financial technology companies have historically operated under differentiated treatment compared to their competitors in the traditional banking sector, despite offering identical financial products, such as savings accounts, checking accounts and investment instruments.
“Here we are also seeking homologation of conditions, it is about standardizing the treatment of the same product. Fintechs, probably due to their novelty, probably due to their condition as a nascent and growing sector, have until today had a treatment that is not even fiscal, a different operational treatment with respect to the banking sector,”, stated the secretary.
Amador emphasized the current disparity: “Savers in fintech products do not have the withholding that savers have in the banking system, the truth is that the intention is to provide taxpayers with transparency in the way they pay taxes so that fintechs are also withholders”. The ultimate goal is to guarantee competitive equity and transparency in the financial ecosystem, ensuring that all actors contribute equitably to the public treasury.
Review of the deductibility of contributions to Fobaproa
On another front of its fiscal policy strategy, the SHCP also decreed the annulment of the deductibility of the fees that banks allocate to the financing of Fobaproa, now administered by the Institute for the Protection of Bank Savings (IPAB). This measure seeks to avoid possible abuses by credit institutions and, fundamentally, align the Mexican regulatory framework with the international standards predominant in this matter.
Secretary Amador contextualized this decision within a global framework: “Regarding the non-deductibility of the multiple banking fees that go to the financing of the debts, of the liabilities of the IPAB, he has been in conversations with the commercial banks… what we are also doing is a homologation with respect to other jurisdictions, for example in Canada and in most jurisdictions.”.
To illustrate the point, he cited the specific case of the United States, where the fees that financial institutions pay to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) – an organization analogous to the IPAB – are also not considered deductible from the tax base. This action, therefore, is presented as accounting and tax harmonization with internationally accepted practices, strengthening the solidity of the savings protection system.
Together, these initiatives reflect a comprehensive strategy of the tax authority to modernize legislation, close gaps vulnerable to tax evasion and avoidance, and promote a level playing field where financial innovation and banking tradition coexist under the same rules of the game, promoting healthy and transparent competition that benefits the system as a whole.
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