Do I have to issue a CFDI for maintenance fees?

Do maintenance fees carry IVA in Mexico?

Only the portion that pays the administrator. Article 33 of Mexico’s Reglamento de la Ley del IVA states that, on fees contributed to the common-expense fund, the tax accrues on that portion alone.

That is why, in Mexico, the administrator’s fee CFDI does carry IVA and the rest of the maintenance fee does not.

If the condominium acts as a legal entity and its administrator is an individual, withholdings apply too: 10% of ISR on the payment (article 106, final paragraph, Ley del ISR of Mexico) and two thirds of the IVA charged (article 1o.-A of the Ley del IVA and article 3, fraction I, of its Reglamento). This is exactly the point to confirm with your accountant before the first payment.

On the other side, the IVA on common expenses is also credited proportionally: article 20 of Mexico’s Reglamento de la Ley del IVA allows it under requirements equivalent to those of article 30 of the Reglamento de la Ley del ISR, including the same monthly constancia.

Which CFDIs does a Mexican condominium actually have to issue?

Three in Mexico, and none of them is the fee: the CFDI each vendor issues to the condominium, the administrator’s fee CFDI made out to the general assembly of owners, and payroll CFDIs if it employs staff.

• Vendors. Article 30, fraction III, of Mexico’s Reglamento de la Ley del ISR requires conservation and maintenance receipts to be made out to the general assembly of owners or to the administrator. The CFDI use is declared by the recipient and must be compatible with their tax regime; for operating expenses the usual one is "G03 Gastos en general".
• Administrator. If they charge a fee, they issue their CFDI to the general assembly of owners (article 30, fraction V) and it is included when the month’s constancias are drawn up. Prodecon’s own criterion says as much: not invoicing the fees does not excuse not invoicing the administration.
• Payroll. If the condominium directly employs security, cleaning or gardening staff in Mexico, it issues payroll CFDIs and remits the corresponding withholdings; if it contracts a services company, that company issues the CFDI.

There is a fourth case that surprises many administrators in Mexico: income that does not come from the owners. If the condominium rents its event hall to outsiders or charges for rooftop use, the Ley del ISR requires tax on that profit to be determined under Title II once such income exceeds 5% of total income for the year (article 80), and article 86, fraction II, requires the corresponding tax receipt to be issued.

Which SAT code applies to a maintenance fee in Mexico?

If your Mexican condominium chooses to issue a CFDI for the fee, the product-or-service code is 80131801, “Administración de propiedades”, with ObjetoImp 01 and no VAT. That classification reflects what the fee actually is: a contribution to a common expense, not the sale of a service.

The unit code depends on how you bill: MON for a monthly per-unit fee, E48 if you invoice it as a service. Neither changes the tax treatment.

Two common mistakes when filling in the receipt, and why they are mistakes:

• ObjetoImp 04 does not apply. It exists for transactions where VAT is passed on but not broken out; the fee does not trigger VAT at all under article 33 of Mexico’s VAT regulations, so the correct value is 01, “not subject to tax”.
• ObjetoImp 02 with an exempt rate is also wrong. “Exempt” describes something that IS within the scope of the tax and that the law then releases; the portion of the fee going to the common fund never enters that scope. They are different things and the SAT validates them differently.

The portion covering the administrator’s fee is the separate case, and there VAT is passed on — the exception set by that same article 33.

Confirm it with your accountant before stamping the first receipt: the classification is decided once and then carries across every CFDI for the year.

In Quintana Roo, are maintenance-fee CFDIs needed to sell a unit?

Yes. In Quintana Roo, when a contract of sale for a unit is executed, the notary must demand from the seller a certificate of no outstanding debt signed by the administrator, together with the CFDIs for the last 3 maintenance-fee payments. That is article 46 of the state’s condominium law, as reformed on 12 November 2021.

This is worth reading alongside the rest of the page, because the two look contradictory and are not. The federal tax answer is unchanged: the fee does not oblige anyone to issue a CFDI. Article 46 is a separate civil requirement, at a different moment — the closing — and it falls on the notary. The practical effect, though, is the same: a Quintana Roo condominium that never issued fee CFDIs creates a closing obstacle for any owner who wants to sell.

Quintana Roo is also one of the states that grants the condominium legal personality. Its article 35 adds a narrow obligation: when the assembly decides to contract professional administration services, the contract must state that an administrator receiving payment for those services issues a receipt meeting the requirements of the Código Fiscal de la Federación. So it binds a contracted, paid professional administrator — not an owner who administers unpaid, and not the condominium generally. If you administer in Cancún, Playa del Carmen or Tulum, these two articles matter more than the general rule.

This is state law: outside Quintana Roo the obligation does not exist unless your own state’s statute creates it. Check yours.

Does my condominium need an RFC?

It depends on your state’s condominium law: in Mexico it varies. Where that law grants the condominium legal personality it can register; where it does not, the usual route is a civil association constituted to administer it.

Condominium law in Mexico is state law — each state has its own statute, and some place it inside the Civil Code or the Código Urbano — so the answer is read in your state’s law and in your deed of constitution, not in a national rule. Prodecon’s criterion, for instance, reasoned on the Ley de Propiedad en Condominio de Inmuebles para el Distrito Federal, which leaves administration to whichever individual or entity the general assembly appoints.

Where the vehicle is a civil association dedicated exclusively to administering the building, Mexico’s Ley del ISR places it among the legal entities that are not ISR taxpayers: article 79, fraction XVIII. Paying no ISR is not the same as having no obligations — article 86 of that same law requires it to keep accounting records (fraction I) and to issue and collect tax receipts for its sales, outlays, services and leases (fraction II).

Which of the two applies to your community in Mexico is not decided by reading this page: it is read in your deed of constitution and your state’s law, and confirmed with your accountant.