ISAI and ISABI 2026: How Much You Pay When Buying in 4 Municipalities

Buying in the Riviera Maya or in Mérida comes with an acquisition tax that almost never matches the rate you found online. Each municipality charges under its own law: Playa del Carmen is at 4% since December 10, 2025, Cancún charges an additional fee that raises its real rate, and Mérida has no flat rate but a tiered rate schedule. Here is the figure you actually pay, with its source and date.

What law applies to you based on the municipality where you buy?

It is not the same tax throughout Quintana Roo, and that is the first mistake to set aside. The state ISABI Law today applies only in two municipalities: "This Law applies in the Municipalities of Felipe Carrillo Puerto and Lázaro Cárdenas of the State of Quintana Roo" (art. 1, reform POE 27-12-2021). Neither is a market where you probably buy.

Why did that law empty out? Its article 1 was reformed five times—on 21-12-2016, 31-12-2018, 27-12-2019, 23-12-2020, and 27-12-2021—removing municipalities as each incorporated the tax into its own Financial Law. Tulum, Playa del Carmen, and Benito Juárez (Cancún) charge today under their own ordinances, each with its article and rate. Bacalar, Othón P. Blanco, Isla Mujeres, José María Morelos, Cozumel, and Puerto Morelos also charge under their own financial law.

Mérida is another state and another ordinance, with different mechanics. So if you saw an "ISABI Quintana Roo table" with a single rate, that table cites a law that does not apply to your zone: that is where the gap between what is published and what you were charged begins.

Consequence: before budgeting, identify what municipality and what law apply to you. The rate depends on that, not on a single state figure.

How much do you pay in each municipality in 2026?

The rate is set by the date of the transaction and the municipality, not the buyer. This is the verified map:

Playa del Carmen
4% on property value
Financial Law of the Municipality of Playa del Carmen, art. 23 QUINQUIES; transactions from 10-12-2025

Tulum
4% on taxable base
Tulum Municipal Treasury, direct confirmation 03-08-2026; documentary reference pending

Cancún (Benito Juárez)
3% nominal + 10% surcharge
Benito Juárez Municipal Treasury, direct confirmation 03-08-2026; documentary reference pending

Mérida
Tiered rate (not flat)
Financial Law of the Municipality of Mérida, art. 60; deeds from 2023

Playa del Carmen settled at 4% with this wording: "The tax shall be calculated by applying the 4% rate to the property value" (art. 23 QUINQUIES, reform POE 10-12-2025). Industry guides that still publish 3% for Playa del Carmen underestimate the tax by a third: the reform changed the figure in December 2025.

The rates for Tulum and Cancún were confirmed with their treasury on 03-08-2026, not from a published article: the documentary reference—article and decree from POE—is still pending in both. This is not a minor detail: it is the figure your notary must verify before signing.

Can you pay the rate from a prior year? No. The date of the transaction sets the rate. In Playa del Carmen, for example, the official schedule recognizes "2% for transactions from prior years through 2019," 3% from 2020 to 2025, and 4% from 10-12-2025 (MPDC-TM-DI-ISABI-012 procedure sheet).

Consequence: ask your notary for the rate in effect on your probable deed date, not what circulates in a blog.

What value is the tax calculated on?

It is not calculated on the price you paid, but on the highest value among several references. In Playa del Carmen the base is the highest of: agreed price updated by INPC; cadastral appraisal no older than 180 days; appraisal by a registered expert in the State Registry, validated by the authority and with the same 180-day period; and the last value declared by the seller (art. 23 QUÁTER).

In Mérida the base is the highest value among the purchase price, the current cadastral certificate, and the expert appraisal (art. 58 of the Financial Law).

If the cadastral or appraisal is higher than your price, they take precedence. The appraisal is not a decorative step once you have a price: it can raise the base and with it the tax.

Consequence: request the cadastral value before signing. If it exceeds your agreed price, your closing budget changes and it is worth knowing weeks in advance.

Mérida has no flat rate: the tiered rate schedule and what you actually pay

Mérida charges with a progressive tiered rate of four brackets, each with a fixed fee and a factor that applies only to the excess over the lower limit. This is the 2023 onwards table:

0.01 to 800,000.00
0.00
0.025

800,000.01 to 3,000,000.00
20,000.00
0.035

3,000,000.01 to 42,000,000.00
97,000.00
0.045

42,000,000.01 and above
1,852,000.00
0.050

The mechanics of art. 60: subtract the lower limit of your bracket from the base, multiply by the factor, and add the fixed fee. The fixed fee for each bracket equals in pesos the tax accumulated at the top of the prior bracket—20,000 at the 800,000 threshold, 97,000 at the 3,000,000 threshold, 1,852,000 at the 42,000,000 threshold—which confirms that the rate has no jumps.

The distinction that changes everything: that factor is marginal. The effective burden on the total is always less than the bracket factor. These effective rates are own calculation on the verified schedule, with inputs in plain sight:

800,000
20,000
2.50%

1,000,000
27,000
2.70%

2,000,000
62,000
3.10%

3,000,000
97,000
3.23%

5,000,000
187,000
3.74%

10,000,000
412,000
4.12%

42,000,000
1,852,000
4.41%

Is it true that Mérida charges 4.5%? Not as real burden. For a five million property the marginal rate is 4.5%, but the effective rate is 3.74%. And the flat rates of 2.5%, 3.0%, and 3.5% up to twelve million that circulate were a program that applied only to 2022 deeds, with final payment date February 13, 2023; the municipal page that publishes it remains online without warning that it expired.

Consequence: for Mérida demand the figure in pesos calculated on your specific value, not a loose percentage.

The additional tax almost no one budgets for in Cancún

In Cancún the acquisition tax does not travel alone. There exists an Additional Tax for Tourism Promotion, Integral Family Development, Social Development and Culture Promotion, created by Decree 235 (POE 21-12-2012). It is not a surcharge: a surcharge is ancillary to late payment, and this one accrues even if you pay on time.

It charges 10% on the amount of municipal taxes and fees on your account. Exclusions are limited—residential property tax of the taxpayer themselves, street lighting, musicians and songwriters—and ISABI is not among them. Result: on the nominal 3% rate, the real burden rises to 3.30%.

A detail when citing it: the same provision appears as article 46-BIS in the 111-page version and as article 58 in the most recent 136-page compilation. You must cite the one from the current version with its date, or you cite an article that no longer exists under that number.

On the litigation: isolated thesis XXVII.3o.8 A (10a.), derived from amparo in review 32/2014, held that article 46-BIS in its 2013 text violated the proportionality principle (registry 2007889, SCJN). It is isolated thesis, not firm jurisprudence: it does not relieve payment, and the only avenue would be amparo on individual grounds.

Consequence: when budgeting for Cancún use 3.30%, not 3%. The difference is paid at closing.

Where it is cheaper: the comparison with real burdens

A flat rate and a progressive schedule cannot be compared without fixing the property value. With calculated real burdens—own calculation on verified rates, and you can review how we verify each figure we publish—two crossover points appear.

Against Cancún, with its real 3.30% burden, Mérida crosses at $3,166,667 MXN, where both cost $104,500 MXN. Below that, Mérida is cheaper; above, it charges more than Cancún.

Against Playa del Carmen at 4%, Mérida crosses at $7,600,000 MXN, where both cost $304,000 MXN. Above that figure, Playa del Carmen is cheaper than Mérida.

This contradicts the common belief that Mérida is always the cheapest: it only is below the two crossovers. And the exact figure matters. Saying "from nine million" instead of 7,600,000 shifts the threshold 1.4 million and would make you think Mérida is a good choice when it no longer is.

Consequence: do not compare with a single figure. Fix your property value and run both municipalities in parallel.

The assumptions that change the base: usufruct, trust, inheritance, and exemptions

There are transactions that are not a simple purchase and sale yet still trigger the tax. In Playa del Carmen usufruct and bare title are valued at 50% each (art. 23 QUÁTER): if they sell you only the usufruct, the base is half the value.

The assignment of trust rights triggers the tax—including substitution of trustor or beneficiary for any reason (art. 23 BIS, sections V, VI, and VII)—: it is not a route to avoid it. And after the December 2025 reform, inheritance, adjudication, adverse possession, and any gift were taxed in Playa del Carmen.

A point that surprises many: in ISABI there is no primary residence exemption that income tax has. Art. 23 NONIES only exempts public housing programs and property in the public domain. There is a deduction for affordable housing—10 times the UMA for the year in Playa del Carmen, applicable only on the first transaction—different from the state law deduction.

Mérida does exempt certain acts in its art. 57, including gifts between spouses, between ascendants and descendants, and inheritance, verifiable with a Certificate of ISAI Payment Exception.

Consequence: if your transaction is dation in payment, assignment of rights, or adjudication, do not assume you are outside the tax. Confirm it by municipality.

What ISAI is NOT: the other closing costs

Within the tax rate there is not room for everything you pay at closing. The trust for foreigners is a bank charge and not a tax: it is not added to the municipal rate. Notary fees, registration rights, appraisal, and certificates are separate line items, with different regulators.

There is also a 5% state tax on the sale that applies to individuals: it is the seller's tax, not the buyer's, the notary calculates and withholds it, and it exempts primary residence. Do not charge it to your purchase budget.

Putting everything within a single "rate" inflates the apparent tax and prevents comparing municipalities. Fees and rights are set by each notary and each municipality, so it is worth requesting them in writing before signing: what matters is knowing who charges each line item and what to ask.

Consequence: request an itemized breakdown. ISAI is one line; the rest is quoted separately.

How do you budget closing without surprises?

When the transaction goes before a public official, in Playa del Carmen the notary calculates and remits the tax (art. 23 SEPTIES) and payment is due within 15 days following accrual (art. 23 SEXIES); the penalty regime refers to the Municipal Tax Code of the State. In Mérida the notary not only remits: determines the ISAI (art. 22), and there is an official calculation procedure before the Revenue Subdirectorate.

For the treasury or notary to run the real number you need the current cadastral value, the expert appraisal when applicable, and the transaction price. With those three, the taxable base is fixed and the calculation stops being an estimate.

And check three ordinances each January, not one: the Municipal Financial Law, the Income Law, and the Gazette or Council agreements. That is where rates move—December 2025 proved it in Playa del Carmen. If you want to place this in the complete purchase process, the tax is one of the last pieces before signing.

Consequence: schedule the rate verification with your notary on your probable deed date, not ahead of time.

Frequently asked questions

Does the notary report my purchase to the municipality?

Yes. When the transaction is recorded in a public deed, the official calculates and remits the tax to the municipality. In Playa del Carmen this is required by art. 23 SEPTIES of its Financial Law, and in Mérida the notary even determines the ISAI, not just pays it (art. 22). Payment is linked to the deed, so it is not a procedure you can leave pending on your own.

Does it change anything that the municipality is now called Playa del Carmen and not Solidaridad?

The name changes, not your obligations. By Decree 111 (effective 20-03-2025) the municipality is called Playa del Carmen, and its transitory provisions state that all references to Solidaridad are understood to be to Playa del Carmen and that documents issued as Solidaridad retain validity. The current rate comes from the Financial Law of the Municipality of Playa del Carmen; the name "Solidaridad" only appears when describing transactions from 2020 to 2025.

Does the ISAI I pay when buying help me when I sell?

Yes, it is deductible, but not as part of acquisition cost. It falls under section 121 fraction III of the LISR, which allows deduction of notary fees, taxes and rights on deeds paid by the seller. The advantage: those deductions are updated only by INPC and do not suffer the 3% annual reduction of section 124 fraction II. Keep your ISAI payment receipt for the day you sell.

What if I sell by assignment of rights instead of recording a deed?

In Playa del Carmen the assignment of trust rights triggers ISABI. Art. 23 BIS taxes the substitution of trustors or beneficiaries for any reason (sections V, VI, and VII), so assigning rights does not avoid the tax for the buyer. Before structuring a transaction that way, confirm with your notary the tax effect in the specific municipality, because each ordinance has its own catalog of taxable acts.

---

This guide is informational and does not substitute professional advice. Because it is a tax matter, it requires review by a certified public accountant or tax expert and notarial confirmation by municipality before operating. Municipal rates move each December with financial and income laws, so no figure here relieves you of confirming with the treasury or notary before signing.

Want us to run the real number for your transaction, with the cadastral value and exact municipality? Schedule a review with a Propyte advisor and reach closing without surprises in your budget.