CFDI on Your Property Purchase: What Determines How Much You Pay When You Sell

The tax receipt from your purchase costs little to obtain on the day you sign and much to recover later. Without it, you cannot prove your proven acquisition cost, which the Income Tax Law recognizes as a deduction for calculating gains when you sell. The result: you pay taxes on a larger base. Who must deliver it is not always the seller or always the notary — it depends on who sells to you, and there are three different routes.

Why is your deed no longer a tax receipt?

Your deed remains your title of ownership; what stopped being is a tax receipt for the cost. The reform effective January 1, 2014 repealed article 29-B of the Federal Tax Code and with it the rule that admitted the public deed as a tax receipt. Since that date, the only form of tax proof is digital tax receipts issued via the internet (CFDI).

This does not affect your property. The deed proves the property is yours, is registered in the public registry, and no one disputes it. What it no longer does is support, before the SAT, how much you paid for it.

And there is the point that many discover too late. The proven acquisition cost is one of the authorized deductions to determine gains in the transfer of real estate, and equals the consideration you paid to acquire the property (articles 121, fraction I, and 123 of the LISR). This cost is also adjusted with factors from the National Index of Consumer Prices. Without the receipt that backs it up, you cannot subtract that cost, and the base on which the tax is calculated grows. Keep your deed for what it is, and get the tax receipt for the cost separately.

The real cutoff date: March 31, 2014, not 2013

If you signed between January 1 and March 31, 2014, your deed does serve to prove the cost. The general obligation for digital tax receipts started on January 1, 2014, but a transitional provision of the First Amendment to the RMF 2014 opened a three-month window in which the public deed remained admissible.

The text is explicit: real estate acquirers "during the period from January 1 to March 31, 2014, may prove for purposes of deduction and credit the cost of acquisition of said real estate with the public deed issued by the notary, where said cost appears, instead of using the CFDI and supplement" (Article Twelfth Transitory of the First Amendment to the RMF 2014). As of April 1, 2014, the deed stopped being an element to prove the cost.

The version that circulates fixes the cutoff on December 31, 2013, and that leaves out an entire quarter of buyers who do have a valid receipt. In a market with the volume of operations in the Riviera Maya, that quarter is many people. If you bought before 2014, your deed also served under the previous rule; check the signing date of your instrument before giving up.

Who must give you the receipt depends on who sells to you

There is no single answer: who issues the receipt for your purchase depends on who the seller is. There are three routes, and choosing the wrong recipient for the claim means you pursue the wrong document. The rule that orders them is 2.7.1.20. of the RMF 2026.

Route 1 — resale by a private individual not obligated to issue CFDI. This is the typical resale. Here the document that supports your cost is the CFDI that the notary issues for their fees, with the notarial supplement incorporated. The rule says it: acquirers "will prove the cost of acquisition for purposes of deductibility and credit with the CFDI that said notaries issue for the income they receive, provided that the notaries incorporate into said receipts the corresponding supplement for each real estate transferred". Pursuing the seller is useless; the document is generated by the notary.

Route 2 — new construction by a developer (corporate entity). Here the rule orders the opposite: the notary does not issue a supplement and the one obligated to issue the CFDI for the transfer is the corporate entity itself. If you bought directly from the builder, the receipt should be provided by the seller, not the notary.

Route 3 — private individual with business activity and the property in their assets. When the seller is taxed under the business activities regime and the property is part of their assets, they issue the CFDI for the transfer, and the notary issues their fee CFDI without a supplement.

There are six cases in which the rule orders that the notarial supplement not be issued: transfers due to death; at no cost; when the transferor is a corporate entity; when in the same instrument it is agreed that the transferor will issue the CFDI; when the transferor is a private individual with the property in their assets; and those derived from administrative, judicial, or trust awards and formalization of private contracts transferring ownership for consideration.

To know which route you are on, the question is only one: who is selling to me and in what capacity? A private individual reselling, a developer corporate entity, or a businessperson with the property in their assets. Confirm it with the notary before closing and request the document from whoever corresponds. If you are going to understand the complete purchase process, this is the piece that is almost never planned in advance.

I bought in pre-sale and paid in installments: what receipt is generated for each payment

If you pay in installments during construction, the one obligated to issue the CFDI — the developer, in the typical pre-sale case — issues one for the total value of the transaction with payment method "installment or deferred payment" and, for each payment received, a CFDI with the Supplement for receipt of payments. This is supported by article 29-A, fraction VII, subsection b) of the CFF and rules 2.7.1.29. and 2.7.1.32. of the RMF 2026.

What you keep during construction are three things: the CFDI for the total value, the CFDI for each payment with its supplement, and the bank record of each transfer. Whoever only keeps the transfer receipts and reaches the deed without the CFDI file has already lost part of their proof.

The means of payment matters in itself. The law requires that payments whose consideration exceeds $2,000.00 MXN be made through the financial system — transfer, check, card, or authorized wallet — for the deduction to proceed (article 147, fraction IV of the LISR). Paying in cash above that threshold can cost you the deduction for that payment. When the deed arrives, check two things: that the developer's CFDI covers the price and that the payment file is complete.

I already closed and I don't have the receipt: what can be done

If you closed without a receipt, there are exits, but not the ones that usually circulate. The one that applies depends on your case.

If the notary's fee CFDI was issued without the supplement, the SAT's criteria allows issuing a new CFDI that references the date and folio of the original, entering zero pesos as the transaction amount and the same payer information (SAT questions and answers on the supplement).

The supplement in substitution has a limited scope, and it should be said plainly: it only applies to properties acquired during the 2014 tax year whose transaction was formalized before a notary by December 31, 2017, and is only requested when selling. It is a facility at the taxpayer's request, not a notary's obligation: it depends on a notary accepting to issue it, and the fee is not regulated. It does not apply "from 2014 onwards", nor does it cover whoever bought from a developer or real estate company.

There is also a suggestion that PRODECON made to the SAT: that whoever acquired after March 31, 2014 from private individuals with business activity or corporate entities that did not deliver the CFDI, when selling should consider as cost "the amount stipulated in the public deed or policy", provided that "the transferor files a complaint with the corresponding tax authority" (PRODECON Systemic Analysis 12/2017). It is a non-binding suggestion: it is not reflected in any rule or SAT normative criteria, and relying on it means supporting it before the authority, plus the condition that the seller files a complaint about their own omission. It is not a comfortable exit.

If your investment in constructions, improvements, and additions cannot be proven, the LISR Regulations offer another route, in order: first the value of the work completion notice and, when for any reason it cannot be proven, "80% of the value of the constructions reported by the appraisal made for that purpose, referred to the date when said investments were completed" (article 205 of the LISR Regulations). It is not a deduction for improvements without invoices: it requires an appraisal referred to the date when the investments were completed, not a current one. Act before selling, not during the sale, when the margin to obtain documents closes.

What to check on the receipt before signing?

The notarial supplement must include, according to the SAT standard, the description of each property, the number and date of the instrument, the transaction amount with subtotal and VAT, the notary's information, and the RFC of transferor and acquirer. If any of those data is missing, the rule is clear: "they will not be able to deduct or credit the cost of the property or the expense incurred, based on the CFDI issued by the notary".

That it is in your name is not a detail. The fee CFDI is issued to whoever pays the notary, so if a third party pays, the receipt is in the wrong name. And if you are a resident abroad without an RFC, the generic RFC can be used — but then the supplement is not in your name. That is why it is worthwhile to apply for an RFC before signing.

If you bought two units in the same deed, a supplement is incorporated for each property. Request all of this in writing as a condition of closing, not as a subsequent procedure: after signing, the margin shrinks.

The file assembled on day one

Set up a folder per property from the day of purchase. Inside: the deed, the contract, the CFDI and its XML — from the notarial supplement or the developer, according to your route —, receipts from each payment, the appraisal, and the trust cover page, if you bought in a restricted zone.

The XML is worth as much as the PDF. The digital file is the receipt; the printout is only its representation. If you save the PDF and lose the XML, you have the photo but not the original.

Add up the construction, improvement, and addition invoices as they occur, not at the end, when you no longer remember who did the work. Keep digital and physical backup. That file is what supports the cheapest tax option on the day you sell.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need a Mexican RFC for the receipt to be in my name?

Yes, if you want the notarial supplement to be in your name. If you are a resident abroad without RFC registration, the generic RFC can be used, but with it the supplement is not identified to your person. That is why it is worthwhile to apply for an RFC before signing. When residents in national territory participate as acquirers, the generic RFC cannot be used: they must have their own code.

What happens if I inherited the property or received it as a gift?

In transfers due to death and at no cost, the rule orders that the notary not issue the notarial supplement: these are two of the six excluded cases. This does not mean you are left without a way to prove your cost when selling, but rather that the proof does not go through the notary's supplement. Consult with a tax specialist how your cost is determined in these cases according to your situation.

Before signing, review your case with an advisor

The tax receipt from your purchase determines how much you will pay when you sell, and the correct route depends on who sells to you and how you pay. At Propyte we accompany each transaction with the review of these points before closing. Schedule with an advisor to review your specific case and coordinate with your accountant the documentation you should require at signing.

This information is general in nature and does not substitute for professional advice. Before making decisions with tax effects, consult with a certified public accountant or tax specialist about your specific case.