Countries › Mexico › Guide › 11. Real estate and land › Restricted zone bank trusts (fideicomisos): SRE permit, 50 year term and extension, permitted uses, trustee duties, 2026 fees and taxes

Restricted zone bank trusts (fideicomisos): SRE permit, 50 year term and extension, permitted uses, trustee duties, 2026 fees and taxes

Argentina. For full detail on Argentina, go to The Argentine Thread.

Last verified: 2026-10-26 · Status: Stable

Inside 100 km of the borders and 50 km of the coasts a foreigner, or a Mexican company with foreign partners buying housing, holds property through a Mexican bank acting as trustee, with use and income rights but no real right in the property. The SRE must decide the trust permit in 5 business days (central office) or 30 (state office) or it is deemed approved; the trust lasts up to 50 years and can be extended if requested in the 90 business days before it ends. In 2026 the permit costs MXN 595 plus MXN 21,650 (about USD 1,192); the trustee bank withholds 25 percent on rent paid to non resident beneficiaries.

USD conversions use MXN 18.6638 per US dollar, the US Federal Reserve H.10 noon buying rate in New York for 23 October 2026 (FRED series DEXMXUS), the latest observation available when this page was verified. Legal conversions in Mexico use the Banxico FIX, which differs slightly. Conversions are for orientation only.

Key facts

Maximum term of a restricted zone bank trust, renewable on request	50 yearsLIE art. 13, as of 2026-10-26 · in force
SRE fee for the permit to set up a restricted zone trust (2026)	21650 MXNLFD art. 25, section V a); RMF 2026 Annex 4, as of 2026-10-26 · in force
SRE fee to examine each permit request (2026)	595 MXNLFD art. 25, section III; RMF 2026 Annex 4, as of 2026-10-26 · in force
SRE fee for a late request to extend a trust (2026)	10615 MXNLFD art. 25, section V c); RMF 2026 Annex 4, as of 2026-10-26 · in force
SRE deadline to decide a trust permit at its central office, deemed approved after	5 business daysLIE art. 14, as of 2026-10-26 · in force
Validity of an unused trust permit, extendable once by the same period	180 calendar daysReglamento LIE art. 11, as of 2026-10-26 · in force
Window to request a trust extension before it ends	90 business daysReglamento LIE art. 12, as of 2026-10-26 · in force

The rule

1. Who needs the trust and what it grants. A Mexican bank needs an SRE permit to acquire, as trustee, rights over real estate in the restricted zone when the trust allows use and enjoyment without creating real rights and the beneficiaries are foreign individuals or companies, or Mexican companies without a foreigners exclusion clause acquiring for residential purposes. Use and enjoyment covers using the property and collecting its fruits, products and any income from its operation and lucrative exploitation through third parties or through the bank. Residential property means property used exclusively as housing for the owner or third parties.
Cost to do it: Examination fee MXN 595 plus permit fee MXN 21,650 in 2026 (LFD art. 25, sections III and V a); RMF 2026 Annex 4). Bank acceptance and annual trustee fees are contractual.
Example: A US couple buying a condominium in Puerto Peñasco, Sonora, inside the coastal strip, pay MXN 22,245 in SRE fees through the bank. / About USD 1,192.Ley de Inversión Extranjera, DOF 27 December 1993, arts. 10, section II, 11 and 12; Reglamento de la LIE y del RNIE art. 5, LIE arts. 11 and 12; Reglamento art. 5, 1993-12-27 official text · verified 2026-10-26

2. Non residential trusts. The SRE also grants trust permits to foreign beneficiaries when the property is used for industrial parks, hotels and motels, industrial buildings, shopping centers, research centers, tourist developments without residential property, tourist marinas, docks and their facilities, agricultural, forestry and fishing processing or storage, and consular offices. Timeshare, property simultaneously used for tourism and residence, property taken by banks to recover loans, real estate development inventory until sold and property used for business activities are non residential; if unclear, the SRE answers a query within 10 business days or the use is deemed non residential.
Cost to do it: Same SRE fees as residential trusts.Reglamento de la LIE y del RNIE, arts. 5 and 10, reformed DOF 4 May 2009, Reglamento arts. 5 and 10, 2009-05-04 official text · verified 2026-10-26

3. Decision deadlines and deemed approval. The SRE resolves considering the economic and social benefit for the Nation, within 5 business days if the request is filed at the central office or 30 business days at a state office; after that the request is deemed approved. The bank's request states the settlors, the trustee bank, the beneficiaries and substitutes and their nationality, the term, the use, the description, location and surface of the property and its distance from the border or the federal maritime zone, with an annex of measurements and boundaries. A permit is valid for 180 calendar days from issue, extendable once for another 180 days on justified written request, and the bank must notify the SRE within 5 business days after using it in a public deed.
Cost to do it: Modification of a permit: MXN 9,740; other trust procedures: MXN 715 (LFD art. 25, section V b) and d); 2026 amounts).
Example: A permit issued on 1 March 2026 must be used in a deed by late August 2026, unless the bank obtains the single 180 day extension. / Modification fee about USD 522.Ley de Inversión Extranjera art. 14, reformed DOF 24 December 1996; Reglamento de la LIE y del RNIE arts. 9 and 11, last paragraphs reformed and added DOF 17 August 2016, LIE art. 14; Reglamento arts. 9 and 11, 2016-08-17 official text · verified 2026-10-26

4. Conditions every trust must contain. The deed must state that foreign beneficiaries agree to be considered Mexican regarding their trust rights and not to invoke their governments' protection, on pain of losing them to the Nation; the bank keeps title for the whole term without granting real rights; the bank reports to the SRE each year by April on substitutions of trustee, substitute beneficiaries and assignments of beneficiary rights to foreigners for residential property; the bank must obtain prior SRE permission to widen or change the trust purposes; it must notify extinction within 40 business days; and the parties must extinguish the trust within 180 days of an SRE request if permit conditions are breached, after a 60 business day cure period.
Cost to do it: Trustee reporting is included in the bank's contractual fee.Reglamento de la LIE y del RNIE, art. 11, reformed DOF 4 May 2009, Reglamento art. 11, 2009-05-04 official text · verified 2026-10-26

5. Term and extension. Restricted zone trusts last up to 50 years and may be extended at the request of the interested party. The request goes through the trustee bank within the 90 business days before the trust ends, and is granted if the permit conditions subsist and were met. A late extension request costs more.
Cost to do it: Late extension request: MXN 10,615 in 2026 (LFD art. 25, section V c)).
Example: A trust signed in 1980 for 50 years ends in 2030; the bank should file the extension in the 90 business days before the end date. / Late fee about USD 569.Ley de Inversión Extranjera art. 13; Reglamento de la LIE y del RNIE art. 12, LIE art. 13; Reglamento art. 12, 1993-12-27 official text · verified 2026-10-26

6. Taxes inside the trust. Rent from Mexican property paid to a non resident is taxed at 25 percent of gross income with no deductions; when the income flows through a trust, the trustee bank issues the invoice and withholds the tax. Amounts a non resident receives for granting use and enjoyment rights over Mexican property are also taxed at 25 percent even when they arise from transferring those rights. Resident individuals who assign beneficiary rights over real estate compute provisional tax as on a sale of real estate.
Cost to do it: Tax only.
Example: A non resident beneficiary earning MXN 30,000 a month of rent through the trust receives MXN 22,500 after the bank withholds MXN 7,500. / Rent about USD 1,607; withholding about USD 402 a month.Ley del Impuesto sobre la Renta, DOF 11 December 2013, arts. 126 and 158, LISR arts. 126 and 158, 2013-12-11 official text · verified 2026-10-26

Procedure	LFD	MXN	USD approx.
Examination of each permit request	art. 25, III	595	31.88
Permit to set up the trust	art. 25, V a)	21,650	1,160
Modification of the permit	art. 25, V b)	9,740	522
Late request to extend the term	art. 25, V c)	10,615	569
Other trust procedures	art. 25, V d)	715	38.31

SRE fees for restricted zone trusts in 2026 (LFD art. 25; rounded amounts payable under RMF 2026 Annex 4).

Worked example

A German buyer acquires a villa in Tulum, Quintana Roo, inside the 50 km coastal strip, for MXN 20,000,000 (about USD 1,071,593). The seller transfers title to a Mexican bank as trustee and the buyer is named beneficiary for 50 years. SRE fees are MXN 22,245 (about USD 1,192).
The buyer rents the villa unfurnished to a long term tenant; the bank withholds 25 percent of each rent payment and issues the invoices (LISR art. 158). Before year 50 the buyer asks the bank to request the extension in the last 90 business days of the term (Reglamento art. 12).

Step by step

1. Choose a trustee bank and agree its acceptance and annual fees in writing.
2. The bank files the permit request with the SRE (MXN 595 plus MXN 21,650) with beneficiaries, term, use and the property's distance from the border or the federal maritime zone.
3. Wait 5 business days (central office) or 30 (state office); without an answer the permit is deemed approved.
4. Sign the trust deed before a notary within the permit's 180 day validity; the bank notifies the SRE within 5 business days after use.
5. Register the deed in the state Public Property Registry in the bank's name as trustee.
6. During the term: keep the bank informed on use, have it withhold tax on rent, and diarize the extension window.

Common traps

Letting the permit lapse: an unused permit expires after 180 calendar days unless extended once (Reglamento art. 11).
Missing the extension window: request it through the bank in the 90 business days before the end; late requests cost MXN 10,615 (Reglamento art. 12; LFD art. 25).
Changing the use without permission: widening or changing trust purposes needs prior SRE permission, and uncured breaches can force extinction within 180 days (Reglamento art. 11).
Assuming the trust is a tax wrapper: rent and use rights paid to non residents bear 25 percent on gross income, withheld by the bank (LISR art. 158).
Overlooking the federal maritime zone: the first 20 meters of beachfront land are federal and need a separate concession (see the beach concession page).

Sources

← Direct ownership by foreigners outside the restricted zone: the foreigners agreement (Calvo clause), the SRE permit, deemed approval and the MXN 5,250 feeMexican companies with foreign partners owning real estate: the foreigners clause, the 60 business day SRE notice, residential limits and selling shares of property companies →