Monday, 5 October 2026

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The IMF urges the Treasury to raise taxes on housing and vehicles and reform the income tax

The IMF suggests increasing local property and vehicle taxes, reforming personal income tax, and expanding the carbon tax by 2027.

Álvaro Sáez Ferrer
Álvaro Sáez Ferrer
· 3 min read

The organisation recommends increasing local taxes on property and vehicles, reforming personal income tax, and expanding the carbon tax to strengthen revenue by 2027.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has urged the Treasury Secretariat to reinforce the revenue policy looking towards 2027 and, among the available options, proposed raising local taxes on property and vehicles, according to elceo.com.

This recommendation appears in the statement from the organisation's technical staff at the conclusion of the Article IV mission of 2026, in which the IMF asserts that the country has room to adopt measures that go beyond those included in the 2027 Economic Package.

“Possible options to mobilise more revenue include increasing subnational taxes on property and vehicles, based on current initiatives aimed at strengthening the tax base,” stated the IMF.

The organisation added to this list the gradual elimination of tax incentives in border areas, the increase and expansion of the carbon tax, a reform of the Personal Income Tax (ISR), and measures to encourage formalisation.

None of these adjustments are included in the 2027 Economic Package, which maintains the federal government's stance of not creating new tax figures or raising existing ones. The Treasury defended in that document that its revenue policy aims to strengthen collection under principles of efficiency and equity, prevent the erosion of the tax base, combat tax crimes, and promote voluntary compliance.

In the spending chapter, the IMF considered that the country should better target social programmes, gradually withdraw fuel subsidies, and sustainably strengthen the finances of Pemex.

For fiscal consolidation, the organisation calls for a set of balanced and credible measures that allow for the achievement of medium-term objectives and free up space for investment in infrastructure and health.

“A more ambitious and accelerated consolidation should be considered to place debt on a firm downward trajectory and regain manoeuvring room for fiscal policy,” it added.

The Treasury estimates a fiscal deficit of 4.1% of GDP in 2026, which would decrease to 3.9% in 2027. The IMF acknowledged that the fiscal framework has helped maintain discipline in public finances, although it has not prevented debt from growing over time, and recommended modernising it with a medium-term debt anchor, defined correction mechanisms, and binding escape clauses.

The organisation added two institutional proposals: to create an independent fiscal council and to publish fiscal statistics in accordance with the Public Finance Statistics Manual.

In its macroeconomic projections, the IMF expects GDP to grow by 1.8% in 2027, within the range of between 1.5% and 2.5% that the Treasury manages. It estimates that inflation will close 2026 at 3.6% and moderate to 3.3% in 2027, while core inflation would decrease from 3.7% to 3.3% in the same period. The unemployment rate would remain at 2.8% both this year and next.

Álvaro Sáez Ferrer

Written by

Álvaro Sáez Ferrer

Redactor

Economista por ICADE y una de las pocas personas que disfruta leyendo la ley de presupuestos. Cafetero, padre a tiempo completo y azote de la letra pequeña; en Diario Empresas escribe de economía y fiscalidad.