Property tax in Mexico is called predial, it is charged annually by the municipality, and it is low by American or Canadian standards, and at the bottom of that range very low indeed.
What gets published less often is why it is low, what it is actually calculated on, and how to find out what a specific property is charged rather than relying on a percentage you read somewhere.
The short answer, as of October 2026
As of October 2026, predial on a built property in Los Cabos runs at approximately 0.1 to 0.3 percent of assessed value per year.
Where a specific property sits inside that depends on how it is used, and vacant land sits outside it altogether, higher. The figure for any individual property comes from the municipal treasury rather than from a published table.
These ranges reflect our latest information and can change. Ask us what a specific property is paying now. We can help you obtain the current predial on anything you are considering, before you make an offer rather than after.
What the rate is calculated on, and why the bills are low
This is the part that explains everything else.
The base is the valor catastral, the cadastral value the municipality holds for your property. It is not the market value, and it is not what you paid.
Cadastral values in Los Cabos are generally well below market. So a low percentage applied to a value that is already below what you paid produces a bill well below what the same value would attract at home from markets where property tax is assessed on something close to the sale price.
That is the honest reason behind “property taxes are low in Mexico”. Not a special rate for foreigners, not an exemption. A modest percentage of a conservative number.
Two consequences worth knowing. Your bill is not a guide to what the property is worth. And if the municipality revises cadastral values, your bill moves without the rate changing at all.
Vacant land is different, and it escalates
If you are buying land to build on rather than a built property, budget differently.
Vacant lots are taxed at a higher rate than built property, and that rate rises each year you hold the land undeveloped, up to a ceiling. It stops rising when you build. The municipality is charging you to leave land empty and increasing the charge the longer you do. It is a deliberate policy to encourage building rather than holding land speculatively, and it works by making the holding cost rise the longer the lot stays empty.
If your plan involves buying now and building in a few years, the predial on that lot is not a fixed cost in your model. Ask the treasury what the lot is paying today and how the escalation applies to it.
Our exclusive lot listings show what is currently available.
The early payment reduction
The law provides for a reduction where the municipality authorizes one, for owners who pay their full year in a single payment early in the year.
It is a mechanism rather than a guarantee. Whether a reduction is offered, how much it is and the window for claiming it are all set by the municipality, so the only reliable source is the treasury itself or your administrator at the time you pay.
One warning, because this is a trap in search results. A discount schedule with specific percentages circulates widely online and is frequently presented as applying to Los Cabos. It does not. It comes from a different Mexican municipality’s revenue law entirely. If you find a precise discount table on a blog, check it against the Los Cabos treasury before relying on it.
How to find out what a specific property pays
The rate is the starting point rather than the answer. The bill is the useful one, and it is a matter of record.
Ask for the current predial receipt. It is issued by the municipal treasury and it shows what the property was actually charged for the year, so it answers in one document what a rate cannot. A seller or their agent can produce it. If nobody can, that is worth a question on its own.
Ask for the cadastral value and when it was last revised. This is the number the bill is calculated from, so it tells you more about your future costs than the current bill does. A property whose cadastral value has not been looked at in many years is carrying a reassessment risk that a recently revised one is not.
Ask what use the property is registered for. The municipality distinguishes between uses, so the registered use is part of what determines the charge.
If you build, you have to declare it. The same article requires an owner to tell the municipal cadastral office when a new build, an extension or a modification is finished, and what it is worth, within a short window. That declaration is what moves your cadastral value, and with it your bill. It is worth knowing before you plan work rather than after.
Ask whether anything is outstanding. Unpaid predial has to be cleared before a sale can be authorized, so an arrears position is a timing problem as well as a cost one. Who settles it is a matter for the contract, and your notario will tell you where it lands in your case.
All four are answerable before you make an offer, and none of them requires you to take anyone’s word for a percentage.
Predial when you buy or sell
Two practical points, and the first one is not optional.
No sale is authorized without a current predial certificate. Article 34 of the municipal revenue law is explicit: a notario may not authorize a contract transferring or charging a property until a certificate shows the predial is up to date. So proof is part of the closing paperwork, and an arrears position has to be cleared before a transfer completes. This is routine, and it is also a reason a seller with an unpaid balance can slow a closing.
The municipality has to be notified of a change of owner, within a short window after the transfer, and the same article puts that duty on the notario. They handle it as part of the closing, but it is worth confirming it has been done, because the bill and the certificate follow the record.
Our Seller’s Guide covers the rest of what a sale involves.
What this means if you are budgeting
Use the range to test whether a purchase works, then verify the specific property before you commit. For a built property the 0.1 to 0.3 percent band is enough for a first model. Land is a separate calculation, with a rising cost rather than a flat one.
What the range cannot tell you is what this property is charged, and that is a matter of record rather than estimation. The four questions above get it.
The current predial and cadastral value for a specific property come from the treasury, and the notaries we work with.
Our Buyer’s Guide covers the other costs of buying.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much is property tax in Los Cabos?
For a built property, approximately 0.1 to 0.3 percent of assessed value per year, as of October 2026. Vacant land is charged at a higher rate and sits outside that range. The municipal treasury holds the current figure for any individual property.
Is property tax higher on a second home than a primary home?
This is the one question on this page we are not going to answer for you, and you should be suspicious of anyone who does. The municipal rates turn on how a property is used and occupied. Whether a second home that nobody lives in full time is treated the same as an owner-occupied one is a question of local practice, not of arithmetic, and we have seen it answered both ways. Ask the treasury what applies to the specific property you are looking at.
What is predial calculated on?
The valor catastral, the cadastral value the municipality holds for the property. It is not the market value and not the purchase price, and it is generally well below both.
Why is property tax so low in Mexico?
Because the rate is modest and the value it is applied to is conservative. It is not a foreign-owner concession. If cadastral values are revised upward, bills rise without any change to the rate.
Is property tax higher on vacant land?
Yes. Vacant lots are taxed at a higher rate than built property, and the rate rises each year you hold it undeveloped, up to a ceiling, and stops rising once you build. Ask the treasury what a specific lot pays now and how the escalation applies.
Is there a discount for paying early?
The law provides for one where the municipality authorizes it, for a single early payment. Whether it is offered and how much it is are set by the municipality, so check the current position with the treasury rather than relying on a schedule found online, because a widely circulated table actually belongs to a different municipality.
Do I need to be up to date on predial to sell?
Yes. A current predial certificate is required before a sale is authorized, so any arrears must be cleared before a transfer completes.
Does predial reset when a property changes hands?
The municipality must be notified of the change of owner, and your notario handles that at closing. What happens to the assessment afterwards is a question for the treasury on the specific property.
If you take one thing from this page, it is that the rate is the starting point and the receipt is the answer. One is published and the other is specific to the property you are buying. Ask us to help obtain the current predial on anything you are considering, through the treasury and the notaries we work with.