Payroll in Mexico 2026: IMSS, ISR, INFONAVIT and CFDI payslips

In Mexico the employer withholds income tax (ISR) from wages each month with the SAT's tariff and deducts the worker's IMSS quotas, about 2.4% of the contribution wage. On top of gross pay it pays IMSS, retirement and INFONAVIT contributions, roughly a quarter of salary, plus a state payroll tax, and issues every pay slip as a CFDI.

Payroll in Mexico at a glance

Social security contributions: IMSS, SAR and INFONAVIT

Contributions are calculated on the salario base de cotización (SBC): the daily cash wage plus bonuses, premiums, commissions and other payments for the work (article 27 of the Ley del Seguro Social), so the aguinaldo and the prima vacacional are built into the daily SBC. The SBC is capped at 25 UMA a day. The UMA is MXN 117.31 a day from 1 February 2026 (INEGI).

The fixed sickness quota and the excess rates come from article 106 of the law and its transitional article 19, which raised the fixed quota to 20.40% and cut the excess rates to 1.10% and 0.40% by 2007. A new company pays the average work-risk premium of its class (0.54355% for class I) and then reviews its premium every year within the 0.5% to 15% range. When a worker earns only the minimum wage, the employer pays the worker's quotas too (article 36).

The employer's cesantía y vejez quota rises each year until 2030 under the 2020 pension reform. The 2026 rates by SBC are:

From 1 January 2027 the top rate rises to 8.603%, on the way to 11.875% in 2030.

Each state also charges a payroll tax (Impuesto sobre Nóminas, ISN) on the employer's total payroll, at the rate and with the due dates set in its own law, so check the rule of every state where you have staff.

Income tax on salaries: ISR withholding

The employer withholds ISR every month as an advance on the employee's annual tax (article 96 of the Ley del ISR). The tax is calculated on all the income of the calendar month with the 2026 monthly tariff in Annex 8 of the Miscellaneous Tax Resolution: a fixed amount for the bracket plus a percentage of the income above its lower limit.

• No withholding at the minimum wage: nothing is withheld from a worker who only earns the minimum wage for their area.
• Subsidio para el empleo: for monthly income up to MXN 11,492.66, the employer reduces the ISR by 15.02% of the monthly UMA, that is MXN 535.65 with the UMA in force from February 2026 (a higher 15.59% applied in January 2026), under the decree published in the DOF on 31 December 2025.
• Partly exempt pay: the aguinaldo is exempt up to 30 days of minimum wage, and the prima vacacional and the PTU up to 15 days each (article 93 of the Ley del ISR).
• Annual calculation: the employer also calculates each employee's annual tax with the annual tariff and credits the monthly withholdings against it (article 97).

The employee's IMSS quotas do not reduce the ISR base.

Minimum wage, working time and mandatory pay

Minimum wage. Since 1 January 2026 the general minimum wage is MXN 315.04 a day (MXN 9,582.47 a month) and MXN 440.87 a day (MXN 13,409.80 a month) in the Zona Libre de la Frontera Norte, with higher professional minimum wages for listed occupations (CONASAMI resolution, DOF 9 December 2025).

Working time. The day shift lasts at most 8 hours, the night shift 7 and the mixed shift 7.5. A reform published on 1 May 2026 cuts the maximum working week to 40 hours step by step: 48 hours in 2026, 46 in 2027, 44 in 2028, 42 in 2029 and 40 in 2030, without any cut in pay. Overtime is paid at double rate (100% more), up to 9 hours a week in 2026; beyond that, it is paid at triple rate (200% more), and ordinary plus overtime work may not exceed 12 hours a day. From 2027 employers must also keep an electronic record of each worker's start and end times, under rules the labour ministry will issue.

Mandatory extra pay.

• Aguinaldo: at least 15 days' salary, paid before 20 December, pro rata for workers with less than a year.
• Vacations and prima vacacional: 12 working days after the first year, rising by 2 days a year to 20, then by 2 days every 5 years, with a prima vacacional of at least 25% of the salary for those days.
• PTU (profit sharing): 10% of the company's taxable income, under the resolution of the national commission published on 18 September 2020. Companies pay it between 1 April and 30 May, individual employers between 1 May and 29 June; each worker's share is capped at three months' salary or the average of the last three years, whichever is higher.

Monthly payroll calendar and filings

1. 1On hiring: register as an employer with the IMSS and enrol each worker within 5 working days, reporting pay changes and leavers within the same period; register with INFONAVIT as well.
2. 2Every pay day: issue each worker a CFDI de nómina at the time of payment. Under article 99 of the Ley del ISR this electronic invoice also serves as the pay receipt required by labour law.
3. 3By the 17th of the following month: pay the ISR withheld to the SAT, and determine and pay the monthly IMSS quotas (sickness and maternity, invalidez y vida, work risk, childcare).
4. 4Every two months: pay the retiro, cesantía y vejez quotas, which are still paid bimonthly; the IMSS can bill the 5% INFONAVIT contribution together with them.
5. 5Monthly or as your state requires: file and pay the state ISN.
6. 6Each year: pay the aguinaldo before 20 December, the PTU in spring, and make the annual ISR calculation for your employees.

Keep payroll records showing days worked and wages paid for five years.

Worked example: MXN 20,000 a month

A single employee in Guadalajara earns MXN 20,000.00 for a 30-day month, in their first year with statutory benefits only (15 days of aguinaldo, 12 vacation days with a 25% premium). The company is in work-risk class I. Figures for October 2026:

The employee pays 2.375% of the monthly SBC of MXN 20,986.20 plus 0.40% of the part above 3 UMA (MXN 41.71). The employer's IMSS figure includes the fixed quota of 20.40% of the UMA for 30 days (MXN 717.94).

Common mistakes

1. 1Using the contract salary as the SBC instead of integrating the aguinaldo, the prima vacacional and other benefits.
2. 2Applying last year's cesantía y vejez rate. The employer's rate changes every 1 January until 2030.
3. 3Withholding ISR from minimum-wage workers, or forgetting the subsidio para el empleo for pay up to MXN 11,492.66 a month.
4. 4Treating a PDF as the pay slip. Every payment needs a CFDI de nómina.
5. 5Missing the 17th for ISR and IMSS, or forgetting the bimonthly retirement and INFONAVIT payment.
6. 6Planning 2027 rosters on 48 hours, when the legal week drops to 46 hours on 1 January 2027.
7. 7Forgetting the state payroll tax in budgets and price calculations.

How Clientlly helps

Clientlly ships a built-in payroll profile for Mexico, checked against official sources on 1 October 2026: the 2026 ISR tariff and the subsidio para el empleo as modelled, employee and employer IMSS and INFONAVIT rates including the cesantía y vejez bands, the 25 UMA ceiling and the minimum wage. It calculates gross to net and employer contributions, produces payslips and supports recurring payroll adjustments as well as employee and payroll imports; an administrator can adjust the rates in the payroll tax settings.

The profile models one employee in a primary job, single, without dependants, at federal level, so the SBC integration, the state ISN, sector agreements and personal circumstances must be checked. Clientlly does not stamp CFDIs: you issue the CFDI de nómina through the SAT's tool or an authorised certification provider (PAC).

Alongside payroll, the human resources module handles leave requests and approvals with a leave calendar and keeps HR documents, and attendance and time tracking records working hours and overtime, which you will need for the 2027 working-time record. To close the books after each payroll run, see our month-end close checklist.