How to invest in US stocks from Mexico: the SIC, SAT rules and US estate tax

You can invest in US stocks from Mexico without leaving the Mexican financial system. More than 2,700 foreign securities, most of them US shares and ETFs, trade in pesos on the country's two exchanges through the Sistema Internacional de Cotizaciones (SIC), and you can also open an account with a broker abroad. The route changes who withholds tax, how the SAT treats your gains and how much of the paperwork falls on you. The US side is the same either way: a 10% treaty rate on dividends and an estate tax that starts at a fairly low threshold. This guide takes each layer in turn, with Mexico's own rules and a worked example. Mexican law decides what you may buy and how it is taxed, so check your plans with a contador who handles foreign investments before you commit money. The invest-from-abroad hub covers the rules that apply in every country.

Can you buy US stocks from Mexico without opening a foreign account?

Yes. A casa de bolsa or bank authorized by the CNBV can buy SIC-listed US shares and ETFs for you, in pesos, on the BMV or BIVA.

The SIC is the section of each exchange where foreign securities are listed for local trading. It has operated since 2003 and has been open to any investor, not only institutions, since January 2014. Indeval, the Mexican securities depository, holds the positions through custodians abroad: Citibank N.A. for US and Canadian securities, settling through the DTCC in New York, and Euroclear for other markets. Indeval counts more than 2,763 listed securities, mostly ETFs and US shares, and SIC trading makes up more than half of the BMV's daily volume.

A SIC position carries the same economic and corporate rights as holding the security abroad, dividends included, and the BMV applies the same tax scheme as for Mexican shares. Securities law also steers local business through it: article 9 of the Ley del Mercado de Valores lets Mexican intermediaries offer foreign securities that qualify for the SIC only through the SIC.

The second route is an account with a broker outside Mexico. It reaches securities the SIC does not list and lets you keep a dollar balance, but the firm is supervised abroad, you fund it by international transfer, and the Mexican tax calculations become your job. The guide to opening a US brokerage account as a nonresident covers documents and account types, and the checklist for choosing a brokerage account helps compare costs and protections.

Whichever route you take, search the firm's legal name in the CNBV's Padrón de Entidades Supervisadas before sending money. A casa de bolsa needs CNBV authorization to operate, and its staff who deal with the public must be approved proxies.

Moving the money is not the obstacle. Banco de México lets the peso float freely and keeps it fully convertible, with no exchange controls on residents. Holding dollars at home is harder: Mexican banks offer foreign-currency accounts mainly to companies and to people living in the border regions, so most individuals convert pesos when they fund a broker. Transfers from a Mexican bank usually start on SPEI, the domestic payment system, before any cross-border leg.

SIC or a broker abroad: what changes

Both routes buy the same companies, but they split the tax work and the currency step differently.

The SIC's main advantage is that most of the Mexican tax work is done for you. A broker abroad offers a wider menu and dollar balances, but buying a security that is not listed in the SIC can take its gains out of the 10% regime, so the choice of security matters as much as the choice of broker. Costs differ too: SIC prices in pesos have the exchange rate built in, while a foreign account adds a conversion spread, so compare total costs on the amount you plan to invest.

How much does the US withhold from dividends paid to Mexico?

Ten percent, for Mexican residents who claim the US-Mexico tax treaty, instead of the 30% default.

US law starts from 30% on US-source dividends, unless a tax treaty sets a lower rate, and the US-Mexico treaty is what brings the rate down. The rates for Mexico, from the IRS treaty table:

The lower dividend column is for companies that own at least 10% of the voting stock of the payer, so individual portfolios pay the general rate. The interest column overstates what investors pay, because US law already exempts most interest that individuals earn, including interest on Treasury bills, notes and bonds, so the treaty ceiling rarely applies.

On a foreign broker account, the claim is Form W-8BEN. It certifies that you are not a US person, names Mexico as your treaty country and gives your RFC as the foreign tax number. It stays valid until the last day of the third calendar year after the year it is signed, and a lapsed form sends withholding back to 30%. The W-8BEN guide goes through each line, and the overview of US dividend withholding by country puts Mexico's rate beside other treaties. Through the SIC, Indeval's US custodian acts as withholding agent, so the tax comes off before your casa de bolsa credits the dividend; if a statement shows more than 10%, ask the broker why.

Gains are usually free of US tax for nonresidents, and so is Treasury bill interest. The guide on whether foreigners can buy Treasury bills explains how to buy them from abroad, and Treasury bill basics covers how they are priced.

How does the SAT tax dividends and gains on US shares?

Foreign dividends are taxed at your progressive ISR rate, with a credit for the US tax, plus a final 10%; gains on SIC-listed securities pay a final 10%.

Dividends

Article 142 of the Ley del Impuesto sobre la Renta (LISR) counts dividends from foreign companies as income you add to the rest of your annual income. Under article 5 you include the dividend before US withholding and then credit the US tax against the Mexican tax, up to the Mexican tax due on that income. Article 142 also adds a separate, final tax of 10% on the dividend actually distributed, not counting the tax withheld abroad, due by the 17th of the month after you receive it. For SIC-listed securities, rule 3.1.7 of the SAT's Resolución Miscelánea has the Mexican intermediary withhold that 10% and issue you a constancia. With a broker abroad, you pay it yourself.

Gains

Article 129 sets a final tax of 10% on the net gain from selling shares through a Mexican exchange, which includes foreign shares and ETFs listed in the SIC. Gains and losses are netted per issuer, using an average purchase cost adjusted for inflation, and a net loss can only offset gains under the same regime, that year or in the next 10. Because the tax is final, these gains skip the progressive tariff, but they still appear in the annual return you file in April.

Two edges of the regime catch people out. Criterion 37/ISR/N, republished in Annex 7 of the 2026 Resolución Miscelánea Fiscal, applies the 10% to SIC-listed foreign shares even when you sell them through a foreign broker, but you then compute the result yourself from the statements. And the regime excludes holders of 10% or more of a company, sales that pass control and trades made off an exchange. Securities that are not listed in the SIC and are sold abroad generally fall under the ordinary rules, at your progressive rate.

Reporting

The annual return is where it all comes together: the dividends and their credits, the extra 10% already paid or withheld, and the SIC gains. Keep the broker's constancias, the foreign statements and the exchange rates you used. The guide to reporting US investments at home explains how tax authorities share account information. Mexico's tax rules change with each year's economic package and the SAT's annual miscellaneous rules, so confirm the current year's treatment with a contador before you file.

The rules for Mexican residents in one table

The table sums up the main rules for a Mexico resident who holds US shares or US-domiciled ETFs.

A worked example: $10,000 in a US ETF

The example follows one holding through a year of dividends and a sale, using the rules above.

The dividend is the expensive part. A 30% bracket plus the extra 10% leaves you about 61% of each dividend, while the gain pays a flat 10%, so a fund's payout policy matters more in Mexico than in most countries. Funds that pay out less turn more of the return into gains; whether that suits you depends on your bracket, so run your own figures. The guide to dividend investing basics explains yields and payout dates, and the compound interest calculator shows what reinvesting the after-tax amount does over time.

Is US estate tax a problem for Mexican investors?

It can be, because Mexico has no estate tax treaty with the US and the exemption for nonresidents is small.

The US can tax a nonresident's estate when it holds more than $60,000 of US-situated assets. The rates run from 18% to 40%, the same schedule Americans face, but a nonresident estate gets a credit of only $13,000, which offsets the tax on the first $60,000 of US assets. Shares of US companies count as US property wherever the certificates are kept, so holding them through the SIC or a Mexican broker does not change the answer, and US-domiciled ETFs are US property too.

Mexico adds nothing on top: article 93 of the LISR exempts what heirs receive by inheritance or legacy. That also means there is no Mexican death tax to offset the US bill.

Funds domiciled outside the US are not US property for this tax. For Mexican residents the trade-off is unusual, though. An Irish-domiciled S&P 500 fund pays 15% US tax on dividends inside the fund, more than the 10% treaty rate on a US-listed ETF, and an Irish fund bought outside the SIC may lose the final 10% rate on gains. Some Irish-domiciled funds are listed in the SIC themselves, so check the listing before deciding. The comparison of US and Irish-domiciled ETFs works through the numbers, and the guide to US estate tax for nonresidents covers filing and other ways to limit exposure.

What are the risks for a peso-based investor?

Currency is the biggest: your return in pesos depends on the exchange rate as much as on the shares themselves.

For reference, the live rate is 1 USD = 18.8052 MXN (Nov 2, 2026). The table shows what peso amounts buy in dollars at the mid-market rate and with typical markups, which is the cost of funding an account abroad:

A stronger peso shrinks dollar assets when you count in pesos and a weaker one inflates them, so a year of flat US prices can still show a peso gain or loss. With SIC holdings the effect reaches your tax as well, because the 10% applies to the gain in pesos. The currency converter shows the latest rate for any pair, the guide to currency risk on US assets explains how to think about it, and holding US dollars abroad covers where cash can sit between trades.

The other risks are mostly avoidable:

• Tax slips. Buying a security outside the SIC and assuming the 10% rate, missing the 17th-of-the-month deadline on dividends from a foreign broker, or losing the per-issuer cost records the gain calculation needs.
• Estate exposure. Above $60,000 of US assets, the bill can be large and US custodians usually freeze the account until it is settled.
• Unauthorized platforms. An app that is not in the CNBV register and not supervised in its home country leaves you with no regulator to turn to.
• Market falls. US shares can drop sharply and stay down for years; the SPY page shows how the S&P 500 fund has moved, and the guide to types of investment risk sets out the rest.

Before you invest: a checklist for Mexican residents

Run through these points before the first transfer.