Before you go
Taxes on casino winnings in Mexico for foreigners
On a prize won in a Cancun gaming room the federal withholding is one per cent, and the venue deducts it when it pays you: a visitor files nothing with the Mexican tax office. Your nationality does not change the rate — non-residents sit in a different chapter of the income tax act that mirrors the same figure. The 10 per cent charge that people notice in Quintana Roo is real, but it lands on what you put into the game, not on what you take out. Checked 10 September 2026.
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The federal withholding is one per cent, and the room handles it
The rule is article 138 of the income tax act, and its two paragraphs deal with different things. The first covers lotteries, raffles, draws and contests; the second covers betting games, which is what happens in a casino:
El impuesto por los premios de juegos con apuestas… se calculará aplicando el 1 % sobre el valor total de la cantidad a distribuir entre todos los boletos que resulten premiados.
Mexican income tax act, article 138, second paragraph
Whoever pays the prize withholds the tax, and it is a final payment: the obligation closes there. On a 100,000-peso prize that is 1,000 withheld and 99,000 in your hand.
Why the much higher rate you have read about does not apply here
The same article 138 sets a far heavier rate — the one quoted in forums and national guides — only for states that levy a local tax on «the income referred to in this paragraph» above six per cent. Read that carefully: it is not enough for a state to tax gambling somehow. It has to tax the prize.
Quintana Roo does not. Its gaming tax lives in a separate statute — the Ley del Impuesto a las Erogaciones en Juegos y Concursos, published on 15 December 2016 and in force since 2017 — and it taxes erogaciones: what the player lays out to take part, including every load and reload of a card. The rate is 10 per cent, the taxpayer is the player, and the venue withholds it.
The proof is one line long. The Quintana Roo revenue act for 2026 has a single gaming entry, «del impuesto a las erogaciones en juegos y concursos», budgeted at 82,364,526 pesos. There is no prize tax anywhere in the state's income schedule. Without that state tax the trigger for the heavier federal rate never fires, and the withholding stays at one per cent.
The three levels, each with its own base
| Who charges it | What it taxes | Rate | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| The federation | The prize from a betting game | 1 % | Income tax act, article 138, second paragraph |
| Quintana Roo | What the player lays out to take part: card loads and reloads, chips, access to the machines | 10 % | Ley del Impuesto a las Erogaciones en Juegos y Concursos, 15 December 2016, articles 2, 3 and 5 |
| The city of Benito Juárez (Cancun) | Prizes from lotteries, raffles, draws and contests, and separately the volume of permitted bets | 10 % | City revenue act, version of 6 March 2020, article 49, sections I and III |
| The federation | The operator's income, not the player's | 50 % excise | Decree of 7 November 2025, in force from 1 January 2026 |
On the city tax we have to say what we do not know. Its article 46 names «lotteries, raffles, draws and contests» and never mentions betting games, and since a Mexican casino is legally a «room for draws of numbers or symbols», the text reads both ways. We did not verify how it is applied, and our version dates from 2020.
If you are a foreign visitor, the rate is identical
A resident abroad falls not under article 138 but under article 169, in a separate chapter of the same act, and the outcome is the same: one per cent on prizes from betting games. What entitles Mexico to charge is not your nationality but where the prize is paid — the law places the source of wealth here when the game is held in the country and, absent proof otherwise, when the prize is paid here.
Because the payer is a Mexican resident, the tax is collected by withholding: the visitor declares nothing and files nothing. Keep the receipt. Whether it credits against your bill at home depends on your own country and the applicable treaty, not on Mexican law — a question for someone qualified where you live. We also did not verify how a venue issues a tax receipt to someone with no Mexican tax number.
The papers they owe you
- A tax receipt stating the amount of the operation and the tax withheld and paid over — article 139, section I of the income tax act.
- A statement of income for prizes on which no tax is due — section II of the same article.
- A city withholding certificate: the Benito Juárez revenue act, article 51, section IV, obliges the venue to provide it to the person who wins the prize.
- A state receipt showing the withheld amount separately — article 6, section II of the erogaciones act. That one applies to every card load, whether you win or not.
Four obligations from three authorities, none of them a courtesy. Ask at the cage, in the moment, not a week later from another country.
Three amounts that change what happens at the cage
The other law that switches on when you cash out is not a tax law but the anti-money-laundering act, whose article 17 treats the sale of tickets and chips and the payment of prizes as a vulnerable activity. Its thresholds are written in UMA, a daily unit worth 117.31 pesos for 2026, so all three move every February.
The first threshold is roughly 38,000 pesos — about 2,260 dollars, a good night rather than a fortune. That is where a passport stops being a precaution and becomes a requirement, since a visitor has no Mexican voter card; the door side of it is on ID and age. The act also catches splitting a payout, covering transactions «apparently linked to each other».
Taking the money out of Mexico
Article 9 of the customs act requires anyone entering or leaving the country with more than the equivalent of 10,000 US dollars — in cash, cheques, payment orders or collectible documents, or any combination of them — to declare it. Declaring is not paying and not asking permission: carrying that amount is lawful, and what is penalised is staying silent, with a fine of 20 to 40 per cent of the excess.
How a prize is actually paid out
A machine prize does not come out of the machine. Play runs through a house card and the balance is cashed at the cage — which is why at Jubilee, the most-reviewed room in the state, the queue at that window is one of the most repeated complaints. At the room inside a resort in Akumal, a review notes what no venue publishes: chips are not sold at the table, and a commission is charged when you hand them back. One last provision that is in the text: article 29 forbids paying a prize to a minor — it goes to a parent or guardian, on documents.
Frequently asked questions
How much tax do you pay on casino winnings in Mexico?
The federal withholding on a betting prize is one per cent of its value, under the second paragraph of article 138 of the income tax act, and the venue applies it when it pays you. It is a final payment: you file no return for it.
Is the rate really that low? Forums say it is far higher.
In Quintana Roo, yes. The heavier rate in the same article applies only in states that levy a local tax on the prize itself above six per cent. Quintana Roo taxes what the player spends to play, not what they win, and its 2026 revenue act contains no prize tax at all.
What is the 10 per cent that appears when I load the card?
The state tax on gaming outlays, in force since 2017. The player pays it, the room withholds it, and it must appear separately on the receipt for each load — it taxes what you put in, not what you take out.
Do foreigners pay a different rate?
No. Non-residents fall under article 169, which applies the same one per cent. Since the payer is a Mexican resident it is collected by withholding, so you declare nothing here. Whether it credits at home depends on your country and the applicable treaty — keep the receipt.
From what amount do they ask for ID to pay me?
From the equivalent of 325 UMA, about 38,126 pesos in 2026, the room must identify you and open a file. Above 645 UMA, about 75,665 pesos, it also files a notice with the authority, and above 3,210 UMA, about 376,565 pesos, the prize can no longer be paid in cash.