How to Create Payslips for Mexican Employees (IMSS & ISR)

Mexican payroll has some of the most specific documentation requirements in Latin America. Every employer must issue a recibo de nómina (payroll receipt) for each payment — and since 2014, that receipt must be a digitally stamped CFDI (Comprobante Fiscal Digital por Internet) issued through the SAT's (Servicio de Administración Tributaria) system.

This guide covers what Mexican payslips must include, how IMSS and ISR contributions work, the CFDI requirement, special obligations like aguinaldo, and how to generate compliant documents.

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Legal Framework

Law / Regulation	Requirement
Ley Federal del Trabajo (LFT)	Employers must provide a written wage receipt for each payment
Código Fiscal de la Federación	All payroll payments must be documented as CFDI
SAT Resolution (CFDI 4.0)	CFDI version 4.0 mandatory since January 2023
Ley del Seguro Social	Employer must register employees with IMSS and make contributions
Ley del INFONAVIT	Employer must contribute 5% of daily integrated wage to housing fund

Key point: In Mexico, a paper payslip alone is not legally sufficient. The official payroll document is the CFDI de Nómina — a digitally signed XML file with a unique QR code stamp (sello digital) from the SAT. The PDF payslip employees receive is generated from this XML.

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What a Mexican Payslip Must Include

Header Information

Field	Notes
Employer name (Razón Social)	Registered legal name
Employer RFC	Registro Federal de Contribuyentes — employer's tax ID
Employer address	Registered address
Employee name	Legal name
Employee RFC	Employee's tax ID
Employee CURP	Clave Única de Registro de Población — unique population registry code
Social Security Number (NSS)	IMSS registration number
INFONAVIT credit number	If applicable
Employee type	Permanent (indefinido) or temporary
Employee seniority	Date of hire
Pay period	Period start and end dates
Payment date
Pay frequency	Weekly, biweekly, monthly

Earnings (Percepciones)

Mexican payroll separates earnings into taxable (gravadas) and exempt (exentas) for each component:

Component	Taxable	Exempt	Notes
Sueldo base (base salary)	Yes	—	Fully taxable
Horas extra (overtime)	Partially	50% of first 9 hours/week	Exempt portion has limits
Prima dominical (Sunday premium)	75% of day's wage	25%	Required when employees work Sundays
Vacaciones (vacation pay)	Above legal minimum	Legal minimum	Prima vacacional exempt up to 15 days minimum wage
Prima vacacional (vacation premium)	25% premium above minimum	15 days minimum wage	At least 25% of vacation pay
Aguinaldo (Christmas bonus)	Above 30 days minimum wage	Up to 30 days minimum wage	Due annually; see below
PTU (profit sharing)	Above 15 days minimum wage	Up to 15 days minimum wage	Due May 31 each year
Food vouchers (vales de despensa)	If above limit	Up to 40% of minimum wage	Non-cash benefit, broadly used
Reimbursements	No	Yes	Documented expenses

Deductions (Deducciones)

Deduction	Rate	Notes
ISR (Impuesto sobre la Renta)	Progressive, 1.92%–35%	Employer withholds monthly; Art. 94 LISR
IMSS employee quota	~1.1%–2.15% of integrated salary	Multiple concepts; see below
INFONAVIT credit repayment	Varies	If employee has a housing credit
FONACOT credit	Varies	If employee has a consumer credit
Union dues	Per collective agreement	If applicable

Summary

Field
Total Percepciones Gravadas	Taxable earnings total
Total Percepciones Exentas	Exempt earnings total
Total Percepciones	Total gross
Total Deducciones	Total deductions
Neto a Pagar	Net pay

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IMSS Contributions in Detail

IMSS (Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social) is Mexico's social security system. Both employer and employee contribute.

Contribution Concepts

IMSS contributions are calculated on the Salario Diario Integrado (SDI) — the daily integrated salary — which includes not just base pay but also alícuotas (proportional parts) of benefits like:

• Prima vacacional
• Aguinaldo
• Food vouchers (if above the exempt limit)
• Other regular benefits

Employee contributions (approximate rates on SDI):

Concept	Employee Rate
Enfermedades y maternidad (illness and maternity)	0.40%
Invalidez y vida (disability and life)	0.625%
Retiro, Cesantía y Vejez - RCVM (AFORE retirement)	1.125%
Guarderías y IMSS prestaciones sociales	1.00% (employer only)
Total employee quota	~2.15% (approximate)

Employer contributions are significantly higher — typically 25–35% of SDI depending on the accident risk category — but are not deducted from the employee's payslip. They appear for informational purposes only.

INFONAVIT: The employer contributes 5% of SDI to the employee's INFONAVIT housing account. If the employee has an active housing credit, the repayment is deducted from their payslip.

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ISR (Income Tax) Withholding

ISR is Mexico's income tax. Employers calculate and withhold it monthly using the progressive tariff tables published annually by the SAT.

2026 Monthly ISR tariff (approximate):

Monthly Income Lower Limit	Monthly Income Upper Limit	Fixed Fee	Marginal Rate
$0.01	$746.04	$0.00	1.92%
$746.05	$6,332.05	$14.32	6.40%
$6,332.06	$11,128.01	$371.83	10.88%
$11,128.02	$12,935.82	$893.63	16.00%
$12,935.83	$15,487.71	$1,182.88	17.92%
$15,487.72	$31,236.49	$1,640.18	21.36%
$31,236.50	$49,233.00	$5,004.12	23.52%
$49,233.01	$93,993.90	$9,236.89	30.00%
$93,993.91	$125,325.20	$22,665.17	32.00%
$125,325.21	$375,975.61	$32,691.18	34.00%
$375,975.62	Onwards	$117,912.32	35.00%

Figures in Mexican pesos (MXN). Updated annually by SAT in the DOF (Diario Oficial de la Federación).

Subsidio al empleo (employment subsidy): Low-income employees may receive a monthly employment subsidy that reduces or eliminates their ISR obligation. Employers apply this automatically for eligible employees.

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Aguinaldo (Annual Christmas Bonus)

The aguinaldo is a mandatory annual payment under Article 87 of the LFT.

Requirements:

• Minimum: 15 days of salary
• Payment deadline: December 20 each year
• Proportional payment for employees who didn't work the full year

ISR treatment:

• Exempt: up to 30 days of UMA (Unidad de Medida y Actualización)
• Taxable: anything above the exempt amount

2026 UMA: approximately MXN $108.57/day (updated annually by INEGI). 30 days of UMA = ~MXN $3,257.10 exempt.

The taxable portion of the aguinaldo must be included in the December CFDI.

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PTU (Profit Sharing)

Under Article 117 of the LFT, most companies must distribute 10% of annual taxable profit to employees.

Key rules:

• Due May 31 each year (for prior year profits)
• Each employee's share is based on 50% equally distributed and 50% proportional to salary earned
• Exempt: first 15 days of minimum wage
• Taxable: above that threshold

PTU appears as a separate earning on the payslip in the month it's paid.

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The CFDI de Nómina Requirement

Every payroll payment in Mexico must be issued as a CFDI de Nómina — a standardized electronic invoice that is:

1. Generated by the employer (or their payroll software)
2. Digitally signed by an authorized PAC (Proveedor Autorizado de Certificación)
3. Submitted to the SAT's system, which generates a unique folio fiscal (UUID)
4. Delivered to the employee as a PDF (human-readable) and XML (machine-readable)

CFDI 4.0 has been mandatory since January 2023. The key additions vs version 3.3:

• Employer's RFC must be confirmed in SAT's registry
• Employee's RFC and CURP must be validated against SAT and RENAPO databases
• Enhanced export and foreign employee fields

Employers who fail to issue CFDI de Nómina face:

• Fines of 5–15% of the undocumented amount
• Inability to deduct payroll expenses for corporate income tax
• SAT audit triggers

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Step-by-Step: Creating a Mexican Payslip

Step 1: Register with IMSS and SAT

Before running payroll:

• Register as an employer with IMSS (Alta patronal)
• Register each employee with IMSS (get their NSS)
• Obtain a CSD (Certificado de Sello Digital) from SAT for signing CFDIs

Step 2: Calculate SDI

SDI = Daily base salary + alícuotas of annual benefits ÷ 365

Example:

• Daily base: MXN $500
• Aguinaldo alícuota: (15 days × 500) ÷ 365 = $20.55
• Prima vacacional alícuota: (6 days of vacation × 25% × 500) ÷ 365 = $2.05
• SDI = $500 + $20.55 + $2.05 = $522.60/day

Step 3: Calculate IMSS Contributions

Apply the IMSS contribution rates to the SDI. Both employee and employer quotas.

Step 4: Calculate ISR

Using the monthly tariff table, calculate ISR on taxable monthly earnings. Apply subsidio al empleo if eligible.

Step 5: Prepare Payroll Data

Compile all percepciones (taxable and exempt separately) and deducciones.

Step 6: Generate and Stamp the CFDI

Use payroll software or a PAC to generate the CFDI XML. The PAC validates and stamps it. You receive back the UUID and QR code.

Step 7: Issue Payslip to Employee

The employee receives:

• A PDF with all fields including the UUID and QR code
• Access to the XML file (for their tax records)

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Generate Mexican Payslips with CleverSlip

CleverSlip's Mexico payslip generator handles the formatting and calculation layer:

• ISR calculation using current SAT tariff tables
• IMSS employee contribution calculations
• Separate taxable/exempt columns for each income component
• Aguinaldo and PTU calculations
• Formatted PDF in standard Mexican payslip layout

Note: CFDI digital stamping requires integration with an authorized PAC (Proveedor Autorizado de Certificación). CleverSlip generates the correctly formatted payslip document; businesses requiring full CFDI stamping should also engage a PAC service or use integrated payroll software.

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Common Mexican Payroll Errors

Error	Consequence
SDI calculated without benefit alícuotas	Underreported IMSS contributions; fines
Not updating UMA/minimum wage annually	Incorrect exempt amounts; wrong ISR
Missing CFDI stamp	SAT fine; payroll expense not deductible
Aguinaldo paid after December 20	LFT violation; employee can file complaint
Not applying subsidio al empleo	Overcollecting ISR from low-wage employees
Wrong CFDI version (3.3 instead of 4.0)	CFDI invalid; SAT rejection

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Summary

Mexican payroll combines ISR income tax withholding, IMSS social security contributions, INFONAVIT housing fund contributions, and mandatory benefits like aguinaldo and PTU — all within the CFDI digital invoicing system. Every payment requires a digitally stamped CFDI de Nómina. The complexity is real, but the structure is consistent once you understand the SDI calculation and the separation of taxable vs. exempt income.