Plan México immediate deduction for machinery: what it is, who qualifies and what it is worth on a robotic palletizer

An invoice for MXN 100. The decree behind Plan México, the federal program to draw investment into Mexican industry, lets you deduct MXN 67 of it in 2026, and it is tempting to knock 67% off the price. With 30% income tax (ISR), that year MXN 17.70 more lands in cash than with the normal deduction, and in exchange you stop saving MXN 9.90 of ISR in the following years if you keep the machine (Target Robotics calculation with assumptions, shown in full below). That is how the Plan México immediate deduction for machinery works on a palletizing cell. This article explains the math and does not replace tax advice: your advisor reviews your case.

What is the Plan México immediate deduction for machinery?

An optional incentive in the decree published in the DOF, Mexico’s official gazette, on January 21, 2025. For new fixed assets acquired from its effective date through September 30, 2030, it allows a single percentage of the original amount to be deducted in the fiscal year of the investment, in place of the annual percentages in Articles 34, 35 and 209 of the ISR Law. A robotic palletizer counts as machinery and equipment, and its percentage depends on the activity where it is used (Article Two, fraction II):

With two or more activities, the one that brought in the most revenue in the fiscal year applies. Cement and building materials don’t appear by name: confirm the subsection. The base is larger than the machine’s price, because the original investment amount adds installation, assembly, freight and transport insurance, before VAT (IVA, Article 31 of the ISR Law).

A cell ordered in late 2026 is unlikely to start up before 2027: for almost any new purchase, the planning column is the 2027 to 2030 one.

Can my plant use it?

Eligible taxpayers are legal entities (personas morales) under Title II of the ISR Law or the simplified trust regime (régimen simplificado de confianza), and individuals with business activity (Article One). It requires an active tax ID (RFC) with a tax mailbox (buzón tributario), a positive tax compliance opinion, an investment project and a certificate from the Evaluation Committee.

Excluded are those on the lists in Article 69 of the Tax Code or with final or unsecured tax debts, among other cases in Article Six. On assets, the decree excludes office furniture, internal combustion cars, armor plating and assets that cannot be individually identified, and it requires keeping the investment in use for at least 2 years after the fiscal year in which you deducted it.

“New” has its own definition: an asset used for the first time in Mexico. A machine already used here is out. A used one arriving from abroad is a question for your advisor before signing, and what to check on a used robotic palletizer covers the technical side.

How to apply for the certificate and how long it takes

The Committee’s guidelines (DOF, March 21, 2025) call for a signed free-form letter (escrito libre) in Spanish, filed at the Single Window (Ventanilla Única) of Palacio Nacional or by email. It goes with the tax status certificate, positive compliance opinion, ID, notarized power of attorney, contributions to IMSS (Mexico’s social security institute) for the last 3 months and the annual returns for the 3 previous fiscal years. The investment project (guideline 13) describes the investments, their value and their schedule, and lists each asset with its cost before VAT, deduction percentage, origin, dates, location, purpose and activity.

It pays to put the certificate on the purchase calendar from the quote stage, because the process runs more than 2 months in the worst case.

The guidelines set a ceiling of up to MXN 28,500 million for this incentive, within MXN 30,000 million in total, and the Committee sets the maximum per taxpayer each year. They set no minimum investment, and we could not find public figures on how much has been used.

The math on a food and beverage cell

For every MXN 100 of price, with 30% ISR (Article 9, ISR Law), a normal deduction of 8% a year for 12.5 years (Article 35, fraction IV), enough profit every year, a 12% discount rate and the machine in use for 15 years (Target Robotics calculation with assumptions):

On a US$100,000 cell that is US$17,700 in cash in year 1 and US$2,800 in present value at 67%; US$16,200 and US$1,470 at 62%.

The total goes down because the undeducted balance is only recovered if you sell, lose or retire the machine, using the table in Article Three, which declines over the years. On top of that, in a sale everything you collect counts as gain (fraction II).

A calculation that assumes fully recovering the balance when retiring the machine in year 15 gives 4.6% of the price in present value, and 3.5% at 62%. The decree’s table doesn’t reach that on a machine lasting more than 12 years, so we use 2.8% for decisions and keep 4.6% as the ceiling.

Two things move that advantage. The rate: the break-even sits at 7.9% with 67% and at 9.7% with 62%, and below those rates the normal deduction wins. And inflation: the normal deduction gets adjusted every year (Article 31, ISR Law) and this math leaves that out; at 3.5% a year (assumption), the advantage per MXN 100 drops to MXN 0.25 at 67% and ends up MXN 1.09 against you at 62%. The incentive brings cash forward, and its value depends on what money costs you.

How much does it shorten the cell’s payback?

Very little. At 3 shifts with 2 people and a US$100,000 cell, the 23 to 31 months of labor payback drop to 22 to 30 if you subtract 2.8% of the price. If you subtract the first-year 17.7% you get 19 to 26, a figure that ignores the ISR you stop saving later. On one shift with 2 people, the 69 to 93 months become 67 to 90 (Target Robotics calculation with assumptions: MXN 14,000 to MXN 19,000 per person per month in 2026, 71% fewer operators as the average goal according to HowToRobot, 2026, and MXN 18.50 to the dollar).

The incentive helps finance the purchase, and shifts and crew size still drive the decision. For that, use the table of shifts and crew, with the payback calculator with Mexican wages for your numbers and what moves the price of a cell for the other side of the math. The specifics of the sector are in palletizing for food and beverage.

What could change with the 2027 Economic Package?

The 2027 Economic Package (Paquete Económico), the federal government’s annual budget and tax bill, is still moving through Congress as of November 3, 2026. The bill, presented on September 8, moves these incentives to transitory provisions of the ISR Law for assets acquired from January 1, 2027 to September 30, 2030 (INDETEC, 2026; Expansión, September 8, 2026). The Chamber of Deputies passed it on October 14 (Mundo Fiscal, 2026). The Senate passed it on the 27th with a change to Article 78-E, and it went back to the lower house (San Lázaro), where committees were due to review it on November 3 (El Contribuyente, October 30, 2026; Excélsior, October 28, 2026). We found no publication in the DOF. Three points to watch:

• The percentage. Expansión lists 49% for grains, sugar and oils, the same as the decree, and doesn’t mention the general food and beverage row. We could not confirm that row in the legislative text, so 62% stands as the figure from the current decree, to be checked against the final text.
• The cap on deductions. For companies with revenue above MXN 50 million, the proposal limits deductions to 96.67% of revenue. The proposed Article 78-E exempts those applying certain immediate deduction benefits (INDETEC, 2026), and Holland & Knight narrows that to the life of the benefit and only with respect to that benefit (September 17, 2026).
• One incentive at a time. The Chamber of Deputies added a transitory provision: a company will not be able to apply two tax incentives at once (Líder Empresarial, October 14, 2026).

What to ask your advisor and what to ask your supplier

For your advisor, four questions: which subsection your main activity falls under, in which fiscal year the investment counts as made if you invoice in one year and start up in another, whether you will have enough profit to use the deduction, and what discount rate your treasury uses.

From the supplier, whether Target Robotics or anyone else, ask for a quote with the line items in guideline 13: cost of each asset before VAT, origin, dates, location and purpose. Add them to what a palletizer quote should include, and the certificate file starts with data from day one.