Written for Mexico. This analysis applies to Mexican federal tax law — ISR (income tax), IVA (VAT) and SAT rules — and cites Mexican statutes. Amounts are in Mexican pesos (MXN).
Under the same name — Régimen Simplificado de Confianza (Simplified Trust Regime) — live two regimes that have almost nothing in common: the one for individuals is a minimal rate on gross income; the one for legal entities is the general regime with cash-flow mechanics. Confusing them produces expensive decisions in both directions: individuals who incorporate "to pay less" and discover that corporate RESICO pays 30%, and companies that never migrated to their RESICO believing "that's for individuals."
Individual RESICO: the system's minimal rate
For individuals with business activities, professional services or rental income earning up to $3.5 million a year: you pay ISR by applying a direct rate on your income actually collected (with CFDI), with no deduction whatsoever. The monthly table: up to $25,000 → 1.00%; up to $50,000 → 1.10%; up to $83,333 → 1.50%; up to $208,333 → 2.00%; and up to the ceiling → 2.50%. It is, by design, the lowest ISR burden available to an active individual — a professional invoicing $200,000 a month pays ~$4,000 in ISR where the business-activity regime would cost them several times that. The counterweights: zero deductions (your expenses don't subtract — irrelevant if they're low, painful if they're high), a 1.25% withholding when you invoice legal entities (creditable), strict compliance discipline (returns and e.firma, the SAT's digital signature, kept current — the grounds for expulsion are relentless) and exclusions at entry: company partners in certain scenarios, salary-assimilated income in some cases, and anyone who exceeds the ceiling — the excess isn't "trimmed": it expels you into the general regime.
Corporate RESICO: it's not a reduced rate — it's cash flow
Here's the widespread misunderstanding: corporate RESICO pays the normal 30% rate. Its benefit is a different one, and it's real: it is taxed on a cash-flow basis — you accrue income when you collect and deduct when you pay — instead of the accrual basis of the general regime. Goodbye to the annual inflation adjustment, goodbye to accruing invoices you haven't collected, and a powerful extra: deduction of investments at accelerated rates (art. 209 — machinery, equipment and certain assets are deducted much faster than under the general regime). The regime is open to legal entities with income up to $35 million whose partners are exclusively individuals (and who don't hold interests in other companies under control scenarios). For the services or trading SME that gets paid on credit, the cash-flow differential against accrual is real money every month.
Are you in the right RESICO — or in none when you should be?
The comparison runs on your numbers: income, actual collections, expense structure, planned investments and growth trajectory. Strategium models the three scenarios (individual RESICO, corporate RESICO, the general regime with a structure) and hands you the annual cost of each — including the transition route for when growth is about to push you past the ceiling. Choosing a regime by rumor is the most common silent leak we find.
The differences that decide, in brief
Nature: individual = minimal rate on gross; corporate = full rate on cash flow. Ceilings: $3.5M vs. $35M. Deductions: none vs. all (when paid). The crossover point: with high margins and low expenses, the individual in RESICO is unbeatable up to its ceiling; with significant actual expenses, the arithmetic flips sooner than you think (a 20% net margin paying 2.5% on gross is equivalent to 12.5% on profit — still beats 30%; at a 7% margin, 2.5% on gross is already ~35% of profit — you break even or lose). The trajectory: anyone who's going to exceed $3.5M should design the landing in advance — into the general regime as an individual (35% marginal schedule), into a corporate RESICO, or into a full structure. Expulsion without a plan is the expensive version of all of them.
Frequently asked questions
I'm a partner in an S.A., can I be in individual RESICO for my other activities?
It's one of the exclusions with nuances: the rule bars partners/shareholders in certain scenarios, with exceptions depending on the type of income and the relationship. It is exactly the kind of detail you check against the text of art. 113-E in force and the RMF rules before you move — a mis-filed notice drops you into a regime whose exit is expensive.
Does rental income fall under individual RESICO?
Yes — the use or enjoyment of property is expressly included. For landlords with income within the ceiling, the relevant comparison is RESICO (1–2.5% on rents collected, no deductions) against the rental regime with the 35% blind deduction plus the progressive schedule. With moderate rents, RESICO usually wins; the exact crossover depends on your income level — and it's in our guide to the RESICO + VAT-free activities formula.
Does corporate RESICO have fewer obligations?
It carries the same big obligations (bookkeeping, returns, CFDI) with a few specific simplifications — the core benefit isn't administrative but financial: cash flow and accelerated depreciation. If corporate RESICO was sold to you as 'less burden,' you were sold the wrong regime for the wrong reason; if you have installment collections and investments, it was undersold to you.
Let's talk about your case
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