There is no national STR framework in Mexico. Every rule that matters to a foreign Airbnb owner is set state-by-state and increasingly municipality-by-municipality. The patchwork breaks down like this:
- Mexico City — strictest framework in Latin America. Mandatory registration, 180-day annual cap, building-level percentage caps in some zones.
- Quintana Roo (Tulum, Cancún, PDC) — registration plus 5% state lodging tax, tightened materially since 2022.
- Yucatán (Mérida) — light state framework, but Mérida municipal regulation is pending and tightening visible.
- Baja California Sur (Cabo) — registration plus 3% lodging tax, active enforcement.
- Jalisco (Puerto Vallarta, Lake Chapala) — basic state framework, municipal regulation emerging.
- Nayarit (Sayulita) — state registration plus lodging tax, evolving.
Mexico City (CDMX): the strictest framework
Mexico City has the most aggressive STR regulation in Mexico, driven by Roma/Condesa/Polanco housing-price appreciation since 2018-2020.
Mandatory STR registration for all properties offering stays under 6 months. Registration requires the owner to register with the CDMX government, obtain a number that must appear on every platform listing, and provide ongoing data on rental activity.[Gobierno de la Ciudad de México, regulación de hospedaje temporal, 2026-04]
180-day annual cap per registered property. Exceed it and registration gets revoked, listings get pulled.[CDMX legislative amendments to housing and tourism regulation, 2024-2026, 2026-04]
Stricter zones — Roma, Condesa, parts of Polanco, San Rafael — add building-level percentage caps on STR units, 30-day minimum stays in some areas, and approval requirements for new STR registration.
Tax enforcement is built into registration. Registered STRs are visible to SAT for ISR (income tax). CDMX collects a 3-4% lodging tax (impuesto sobre hospedaje).[CDMX Secretaría de Administración y Finanzas, lodging tax framework, 2026-04]
Platform enforcement — Airbnb and other major platforms are required to verify CDMX registration numbers and pull unregistered listings. Compliance has been uneven but tightening.
The practical compliance package: registration, day-tracking against the 180-day cap, lodging tax remittance, ISR filing. Most foreign owners not based in CDMX use a property-management firm with CDMX-specific STR experience.
Quintana Roo (Tulum, Cancún, PDC): registration plus 5% lodging tax
Q. Roo’s framework is registration-based and tax-focused rather than cap-based. No day-cap. Registration and tax enforcement have tightened materially since 2022.
State STR registry (Padrón Estatal) — every Q. Roo STR must register with the state tourism office. Property documentation, owner ID (passport + RFC for foreign owners), and ongoing reporting of rental activity.[Gobierno del Estado de Quintana Roo, padrón estatal de hospedaje, 2026-04]
State lodging tax (ISH — Impuesto Sobre Hospedaje): 5% on STR revenue. Collected by the owner or platform, remitted to the state monthly.[Gobierno del Estado de Quintana Roo, ISH framework for tourism accommodation, 2026-04]
Municipal overlays — Tulum, PDC, and Cancún each have their own rules: parking requirements for new STR developments, condominium-association restrictions, residential vs. commercial zoning compliance.
Federal ISR — foreign owners pay federal income tax on rental income at progressive rates (1.92-35%). State lodging tax is in addition. See /mexico/taxes-american-buyers/ and /mexico/taxes-canadian-buyers/.
Platform enforcement — Airbnb collects and remits the Q. Roo lodging tax automatically on most listings. Verify the platform is collecting correctly and that your registration data is current.
The practical package: state registration, monthly lodging tax remittance (or verification of platform remittance), federal ISR, plus municipality-specific and HOA compliance. Most established Q. Roo property managers handle this as routine.
Yucatán (Mérida): permissive, but tightening
Yucatán has historically been one of the more permissive STR environments in Mexico — no state day-cap, light registration. That’s started to shift as foreign-buyer STR growth in Centro Histórico has prompted municipal interest.
State tourism registration with the state tourism secretariat. Straightforward, functionally automatic for properly-documented properties.[Gobierno del Estado de Yucatán, Secretaría de Fomento Turístico, 2026-04]
State lodging tax: 3%. Same compliance pattern as Q. Roo’s 5%, lower rate.
Mérida municipal regulation is pending. As of 2025-2026, the city has signaled interest in STR-specific zoning, building-level percentage caps in Centro Histórico, and a registration framework distinct from the state’s. Specifics and timing are not finalized.[Mérida municipal government, tourism and housing planning, 2026-04]
No state day-cap currently. Year-round operation is fine. HOA-level restrictions may apply to specific buildings.
Practical compliance is currently light: state registration, lodging tax, federal ISR. The forward-looking risk is real — municipal rules could tighten within 12-24 months. Price that into your underwriting.
Baja California Sur (Cabo, La Paz, Todos Santos): registration plus active enforcement
Baja California Sur has implemented a registration framework with active enforcement focused on short-term rental compliance and tourism tax collection.
The current framework:
State STR registration: required for all short-term accommodations under the state tourism law. Registration is processed through the state tourism secretariat.[Gobierno del Estado de Baja California Sur, Secretaría de Turismo, 2026-04]
State lodging tax: 3% on STR revenue, collected and remitted monthly.
Cabo-area municipal overlays: Los Cabos municipality (covering Cabo San Lucas and San José del Cabo) has its own zoning and registration overlays, particularly for properties in the resort corridor and the Marina/El Médano areas. Property-specific compliance varies by location.
Active enforcement: BCS has been more active than some states in enforcing registration and tax compliance, with documented cases of unregistered properties facing fines and tax-arrears assessments.
For foreign owners in Cabo and other BCS STRs, the practical compliance package is similar to Q. Roo — state registration, monthly lodging tax remittance, federal ISR, plus municipal compliance for Los Cabos properties.
Jalisco (Puerto Vallarta, Lake Chapala): emerging framework
Jalisco’s STR regulatory framework is less developed than Q. Roo’s or CDMX’s but tightening. The state has implemented basic registration requirements and a state-level lodging tax; municipal-level regulation is emerging in foreign-buyer-popular areas.
The current framework:
State tourism registration: required under Jalisco’s tourism law. Process is similar to other states’ frameworks.[Gobierno del Estado de Jalisco, Secretaría de Turismo, 2026-04]
State lodging tax: 3% on STR revenue.
Puerto Vallarta municipal regulation: under development, similar pattern to Mérida — STR-driven appreciation in Zona Romántica and Old Town has prompted municipal interest, with specific rules pending finalization.
Lake Chapala area: lighter regulatory environment due to smaller scale of STR activity. Most foreign-resident STR activity in Lake Chapala is at modest volume (single-property owners renting occasionally rather than commercial-scale operations), and the regulatory framework reflects that scale.
Other Pacific and Caribbean coast markets
Mazatlán (Sinaloa): state STR registration and tourism tax framework; less developed than Cabo or Vallarta but tightening as foreign-buyer activity grows.
Sayulita and Riviera Nayarit: under Nayarit state framework with tourism registration and lodging tax. Registration and compliance handled through state tourism office.
Cozumel: under Q. Roo state framework (same registration and 5% lodging tax structure as Tulum, Playa del Carmen, and Cancún).
Bahías de Huatulco (Oaxaca): smaller market with state-level Oaxaca framework. Lighter compliance overhead due to smaller scale.
Federal-level considerations: ISR, IVA, and the simplified vs. progressive regimes
Beyond state-level lodging tax frameworks, all STR operators in Mexico face federal-level tax obligations:
ISR rental income tax: progressive rates from 1.92% to 35% under the standard regime, or a simplified flat-rate option for smaller operators. The choice between regimes affects both the Mexican tax owed and (for foreign owners) the foreign tax credit calculation on the home-country return. See /mexico/taxes-american-buyers/ and /mexico/taxes-canadian-buyers/ for the cross-border framework.[Mexico SAT, ISR rental income tax framework, 2026-04]
IVA (value-added tax): 16% IVA applies to short-term accommodation services in most Mexican jurisdictions. Platform-collected on Airbnb and similar major platforms; owner-collected for direct bookings. Owners running direct booking operations need to register for IVA collection and remittance.[Mexico SAT, IVA framework for short-term lodging services, 2026-04]
RFC requirement: foreign owners running rental operations need a Mexican RFC (Registro Federal de Contribuyentes — tax ID) to file ISR and (where applicable) IVA. RFC is also required for state-level STR registration in most states.
Platform reporting: Airbnb, Booking.com, and other major platforms report rental activity to SAT for Mexican tax purposes. Foreign owners using these platforms have their gross rental activity visible to SAT — non-compliance with ISR filing is detectable.
What’s pending across multiple jurisdictions
Several regulatory directions are visible across multiple states and municipalities through 2026-2027:
Building-level percentage caps: Mexico City has implemented these in some zones; Mérida and Puerto Vallarta are considering similar frameworks. The caps limit the percentage of units in a building that can operate as STRs, with the goal of preserving residential housing supply.
Mandatory minimum stays: 30-day or longer minimum stay requirements in certain residential zones, intended to differentiate vacation rentals from genuine short-term tourist accommodation.
HOA-level enforcement: condominium associations in foreign-buyer-popular buildings are increasingly implementing their own STR restrictions, sometimes overriding what the state and municipal frameworks would permit. Buyers should verify HOA STR rules before purchase, particularly in Tulum and Cabo developments.
Tax-collection automation: more states are moving to automatic platform-level tax collection (Airbnb collecting state lodging tax and remitting directly to the state), reducing owner compliance burden but also reducing the gray-market opportunity for non-registered operators.
For foreign owners considering an STR-investment-driven property purchase, the regulatory direction-of-travel matters as much as the current framework. A market with a permissive current framework but visible regulatory tightening on the horizon is a different investment than a market with a stable framework. The clearest forward-looking risks for 2026-2027 are Mérida (pending municipal regulation), Puerto Vallarta (pending municipal regulation), and Tulum (potential additional restrictions in central tourist areas).
Practical compliance for foreign owners
The standard package for an STR in a foreign-buyer market:
- Obtain RFC from SAT — required for tax filing and most state registration
- Register with state tourism office — online application, property docs, owner ID
- Set up tax filing — ISR (monthly or quarterly under simplified regime), IVA (monthly), state lodging tax (monthly)
- Verify platform compliance — Airbnb registration number on listing, platform tax collection where applicable
- Confirm HOA rules — condominium STR permissions, parking, guest registration
- Maintain ongoing compliance — registration renewal, tax filings, platform listing updates
A property-management firm with state-specific STR experience handles all of this for foreign owners not based in Mexico. Typical management fees including STR operations and compliance run 20-30% of gross rental revenue depending on market and service tier.
DIY compliance is meaningful work — especially in CDMX and Q. Roo where active enforcement makes non-compliance costly. The math typically favors professional management for owners with limited Mexico time and limited Spanish administrative bandwidth.
For weekly STR registry updates by state, recent enforcement actions, and pending municipal rule changes, The Brief newsletter at /newsletter tracks the moving pieces.
For broader market context, see /mexico/housing-market/. If you’re still at the acquisition stage, the step-by-step guide to buying property in Mexico covers the purchase mechanics before any rental registration applies. For the cross-border tax framework on rental income, see /mexico/taxes-american-buyers/ (US persons) or /mexico/taxes-canadian-buyers/ (Canadian persons).