Can You Ship Commercially To Mexico Without A Mexican Company?

Yes, you can sell into Mexico without your own Mexican company, but a formal commercial import always needs an importer of record who is registered in Mexico and enrolled in the importer registry. Your options are to let the buyer import, to use a partner as importer of record, to ship small consignments under the simplified courier regime, or to set up your own entity.

• A formal commercial import requires an importer of record registered in Mexico and enrolled in the Padrón de Importadores (SAT).
• Only a licensed Mexican customs broker can file the pedimento that legalises the import (SAT).
• The simplified courier regime is capped at 2,500 US dollars per consignee; above that a formal pedimento is required (RGCE 2026).
• Amazon requires RFC tax information from sellers shipping from Mexico or with Mexican indicators (Amazon México).
• Without an RFC on file, withholding runs at 16 percent IVA and 20 percent ISR, so verify your position with Seller Central and a tax adviser.

Can I ship commercially to Mexico without a Mexican company or RFC?

Yes, but not by importing in your own name. A commercial import needs an importer of record registered in Mexico. You can avoid setting up an entity by having the buyer import, using a partner as importer of record, or staying inside the simplified courier regime.

The question people are really asking is whether they need to incorporate in Mexico before they can start selling there, and the answer is no. What Mexico requires is not that you have a company, but that someone identifiable and registered inside the country takes legal responsibility for the import. That role is called the importer of record, and it carries the obligations: enrolment in the importer registry, tax identity, and liability for what was declared. A foreign company with no Mexican registration cannot fill that role itself. Alongside it, only a licensed Mexican customs broker can actually file the pedimento that legalises the entry, so the broker is never optional in a formal import either. Once you see it this way the routes become clear rather than mysterious. Either your buyer is the importer, or a partner is the importer, or the shipment is small enough to travel under the simplified courier regime where the recipient is treated as the importer, or you decide the volume justifies your own Mexican entity. Each of these is a legitimate way to sell into Mexico without a company of your own, and each one moves cost, control and risk to a different place. The mistake is not picking the wrong one, it is not picking deliberately and finding out at the border which one you defaulted into.

The four routes, and what each costs you

Buyer as importer is simplest but limits you to customers who can import. A partner as importer of record lets you sell to anyone and keeps control. The courier regime works under 2,500 dollars per consignee. Your own entity gives the most control and the most overhead.

Route one is letting your Mexican buyer act as importer of record. This is the least work for you and it is normal in B2B, because an established Mexican business is usually already enrolled in the importer registry. The limitation is obvious: you can only sell to buyers who can import, which rules out consumers and most small businesses, and you lose visibility over what happens after the border. Route two is using a partner as importer of record, typically a logistics operator or a specialised service. Here the partner imports on your behalf, the goods clear in their name, and you keep control of the inventory and the customer relationship. This is the route most cross-border sellers end up on because it lets you sell to anyone, including consumers, without incorporating. Route three is the simplified courier regime, which suits small parcels. It is capped at 2,500 US dollars per consignee and the recipient effectively bears the import, with a single combined rate applied instead of a full pedimento. It is genuinely useful for testing a market or for low value direct to consumer orders, but it is not a way to move commercial volume, and deliberately splitting a larger order into small parcels to stay under thresholds is a pattern the rules specifically watch for. Route four is your own Mexican entity with your own registry enrolment. This gives you the most control and is usually the right end state for a business with steady volume, but it brings accounting, tax filing and administration that only makes sense once the volume justifies it. Most sellers start on route one or three, move to route two as they grow, and only consider route four when Mexico becomes a core market.

The tax detail that decides the economics

If you sell on Amazon Mexico with Mexican indicators, Amazon requires RFC tax information. Without an RFC on file, withholding is substantially higher, which can remove the margin entirely. This is the single number that most often decides whether a route works.

There is one piece of arithmetic that changes the answer for marketplace sellers and it is worth being blunt about. Amazon requires RFC tax information from sellers shipping from Mexico or operating with Mexican indicators, and using FBA in Mexico means holding inventory in Mexico, which is exactly such an indicator. Where no RFC is on file, withholding applies at a much higher rate: the figures circulating for 2026 are 16 percent IVA and 20 percent ISR, against materially lower rates for a seller registered with an RFC and a Mexican bank account. If those numbers hold for your situation, more than a third of your gross revenue is withheld before it reaches you, and that is before the category referral fee and the fulfillment fee. In most categories that removes the margin completely. We flag this rather than state it as settled because the withholding rules were updated for 2026 and the precise rates should be confirmed in Seller Central and with a Mexican tax adviser before you build a plan around them. The direction and the scale, however, are not in doubt, and the practical conclusion follows: if your route to market is FBA in Mexico, the tax registration question is not an administrative detail you can defer, it is the first thing to resolve. For sellers who want to reach Mexican customers without taking that on immediately, importing through a partner and fulfilling from a Mexican warehouse keeps you selling while you decide. BringGo Ship operates warehouses in Laredo and Monterrey with a licensed customs broker in house, which is what makes the partner route practical rather than theoretical.

Four ways to sell into Mexico without your own entity

Definitions

• Importer of record: The importer of record is the party registered in Mexico that takes legal responsibility for the import and what was declared.
• Padrón de Importadores: The Padrón de Importadores is the Mexican importer registry an entity must be enrolled in to import commercially on a regular basis.
• RFC: The RFC is the Mexican tax registration number, and its absence triggers substantially higher marketplace withholding.

Frequently asked questions

Can I ship commercially to Mexico without a Mexican company?

Yes. What Mexico requires is not that you have a company, but that someone registered in Mexico acts as importer of record. You can have the buyer import, use a partner as importer of record, stay inside the simplified courier regime, or set up your own entity. Only the last one requires incorporating.

Do I need a Mexican customs broker even without a company?

Yes, for any formal commercial import. Only a licensed Mexican customs broker can file the pedimento that legalises the entry, and that is independent of who the importer of record is. The broker is never the optional part. Small parcels under the simplified courier regime work differently and do not need a formal pedimento.

How large can a shipment be without a formal import?

The simplified courier regime is capped at 2,500 US dollars per consignee. Above that a formal pedimento is required, with a customs broker and an importer of record enrolled in the registry. Deliberately splitting a larger order into small parcels to stay under thresholds is a pattern the rules specifically watch for.

Do I need an RFC to sell on Amazon Mexico?

Amazon requires RFC tax information from sellers shipping from Mexico or with Mexican indicators, and holding FBA inventory in Mexico is such an indicator. Without an RFC on file, withholding is substantially higher, which in most categories removes the margin. Confirm your exact position in Seller Central and with a tax adviser.

Which route should I start with?

Most sellers start by having the buyer import or by using the courier regime for small orders, move to a partner acting as importer of record as volume grows, and only set up their own Mexican entity once Mexico is a core market. The mistake is not choosing, and finding out at the border which route you defaulted into.

Use a partner as importer of record: BringGo Ship

Sources

• SAT (Mexican tax administration) (sat.gob.mx)
• Amazon México, tax information (vender.amazon.com.mx)
• ANAM (Mexican customs agency) (anam.gob.mx)

Note: This content is for general information only and is not legal, tax or customs advice. Rates and rules can change often in 2026; verify the current details with an official source (SAT, DOF, CBP) or our licensed customs broker before acting.