IMMEX 4.0 is the planned overhaul of Mexico’s export manufacturing program, announced inside Plan Mexico on 13 January 2025. Its core promise is folding VAT and IEPS certification into the IMMEX authorization and cutting launch time by 50%. As of 14 September 2026, no IMMEX 4.0 decree has been published. The Plan Mexico tax incentives, however, are already law.
We help foreign manufacturers select sites, secure permits and line up their IMMEX setup in Mexico, free of charge, so we read every one of these decrees against real plant schedules rather than keynote slides. If the program itself is new to you, start with our guide to the IMMEX program in Mexico. This article covers only what changed.
(Plan Mexico has so far produced more announcements than decrees. That is normal for an industrial policy, and it is exactly why a project schedule should be built on the Diario Oficial, not on applause.)
What Plan Mexico Announced vs. What Is Actually Law
Plan Mexico bundles a dozen initiatives under one name, and they sit at very different stages. Some are signed, dated and enforceable. One of the most talked about, IMMEX 4.0, still exists only as a design process. Here is the status of each measure that touches an export plant, as of September 2026.
| Measure | Status in September 2026 | What it means for a new plant |
|---|---|---|
| IMMEX 4.0 | Announced 13 January 2025. No decree published | Nothing changes yet. You apply under the current IMMEX decree |
| Plan Mexico tax incentive decree | Published 21 January 2025, runs through 2030 | Immediate deduction of 35% to 91% on new fixed assets, with committee approval |
| Development hubs decree | Published 22 May 2025 | 100% immediate deduction, only for operations based inside a designated hub |
| Customs Law reform | In force since 1 January 2026 | Fines of 250% to 300% of merchandise value and criminal exposure for simulated temporary-import transfers |
| Tariffs on non-agreement countries | In force since 1 January 2026 | Higher duties on 1,463 tariff lines from countries without a trade agreement with Mexico |
| Investment facilitation decrees | Published 4 May 2026 | 30-day authorization for priority projects, 90-day cap on federal procedures |
| Textile IMMEX restriction | In force since 20 December 2024 | Finished apparel can no longer enter under IMMEX temporary import |
Sources for each row are linked in the sections below. The short version: the incentives and the enforcement arrived on schedule, and the simplification did not.
What Is IMMEX 4.0?
IMMEX 4.0 is the Mexican government’s proposed modernization of the IMMEX export manufacturing program, first listed among the Plan Mexico measures in January 2025. According to the Jones Day summary of Plan Mexico, it would integrate VAT and IEPS certification into a new export manufacturing program and reduce business launch time by 50%.
That target matters because today the two approvals run separately. The Secretaria de Economia grants the IMMEX authorization, and the SAT runs VAT certification for IMMEX companies as a second filing with its own tiers and its own clock. Merging them is the entire pitch.
In April 2025, Wilfredo Marquez, the Secretaria de Economia’s director general of trade facilitation, said the new scheme would be announced in approximately two months. Seventeen months later, those two months are still pending. Nothing in the announced design changes who qualifies for IMMEX: a Mexican entity, a real production address and an export commitment remain the entry ticket.
Is IMMEX 4.0 in Force Yet?
No. As of 14 September 2026, no IMMEX 4.0 decree has been published in the Diario Oficial. An August 2026 industry briefing carried by Guanajuato’s Puerto Interior states it plainly: IMMEX 4.0 still has no new decree formalizing the model.
The most recent signals point to late 2026 at the earliest. Vanguardia Industrial reported on 2 September 2026 that industry expects a presentation before the end of the year. The President could announce it at the INDEX National Convention in Monterrey on 28 October. Then, on 10 September, INDEX asked Congress to fold IMMEX 4.0 into the 2027 budget debate.
A program still waiting for a budget debate is not a program you can file under this quarter. Until a text is published, every IMMEX application, renewal and annual report runs under the 2006 decree and its existing amendments.
What the Industry Wants IMMEX 4.0 to Fix
Beyond paperwork, industry wants IMMEX 4.0 to raise domestic content in exports. The same August 2026 briefing puts national content at 6% to 7% today, against a 15% target for 2030. It sizes the supplier opportunity at nearly $100 billion. And it sets a goal of cutting new-plant setup from about two years to six months.
“It means that every 10 years we have developed only one percent of national content.”
Salvador Maese Barraza, President of INDEX Mexicali (translated from Spanish)
Do the arithmetic on that pace and the 15% target lands several generations of plant managers from now. Maese’s own advice was not to wait for the decree and to start finding and training suppliers now, which is sound whether IMMEX 4.0 arrives in October or never.
The supplier gap is also a location question. A plant placed inside a mature supplier cluster starts closer to any content rule than one placed in open country. That is why our site selection scoring weighs supplier depth next to power, water and customs distance.
Plan Mexico Decree Incentives You Can Use Today
The Plan Mexico tax decree published on 21 January 2025 is real, in force and usable now. It grants an immediate deduction of 41% to 91% of new fixed asset investment for 2025 and 2026, and 35% to 89% for 2027 to 2030. On top of that sits an extra 25% deduction on increased training or innovation spending, per Greenberg Traurig’s analysis of the decree.
- Deadline. Assets must be acquired between the decree’s entry into force and 30 September 2030.
- Cap. Total incentives are limited to 30 billion pesos: up to 28.5 billion for immediate deductions and 1.5 billion for training.
- Gate. You need an active tax mailbox, a positive SAT compliance opinion, a presented investment project and a constancia from the evaluation committee.
The percentage range is wide because the rate depends on the asset type, so check your equipment against the decree’s tables before the sales deck rounds everything up to 91%. The decree replaced the October 2023 nearshoring decree, which was limited to a short list of export sectors.
One correction worth making: some guides online describe this decree as IMMEX 4.0. It is not. The tax decree is a separate instrument, and holding an IMMEX program is not one of its eligibility requirements.
Development Hubs: The 100% Deduction With an Address Attached
Mexico’s development hubs, the Polos de Desarrollo Economico para el Bienestar, offer the richest incentive on the table. It is a 100% immediate deduction on new fixed assets, plus the additional 25% deductions, for tax years 2025 to 2030. The catch is location. Per the 22 May 2025 decree, your tax domicile must sit inside the hub, and assets must be held for at least two years.
Progress on the ground has been slow. A report published on 13 September 2026 found that only 4 of the 14 hubs planned along the Isthmus of Tehuantepec have a concessionaire, with about 482 million pesos in identifiable public investment. The corridor authority confirmed that none of the four concessions has reported a company that has started operations.
A full deduction in a hub with no operating neighbors is a pioneering exercise, not a shortlist. Treat the hub incentive as a bonus on a site that already works, and confirm that power and water exist on your timeline first, which is what industrial utilities diligence is for.
What Actually Changed for IMMEX Companies
The IMMEX changes that have actually shipped since 2024 tighten enforcement rather than simplify filing. Plan Mexico promised a faster IMMEX, and the version that arrived first was the stricter one. It is a bit like ordering a sports car and receiving the speed cameras.
- Customs Law reform, in force 1 January 2026. Fines of 250% to 300% of commercial value for restricted merchandise, and criminal liability for simulated or nonexistent virtual transfers under temporary import, per DLA Piper’s review of the reform.
- Program cancellations. The Secretaria de Economia cancelled 170 IMMEX programs on 29 September 2025, mainly for missing the 2024 annual report. Another list of suspended programs followed in June 2026 for the 2025 report.
- Tariffs on non-agreement countries, in force 1 January 2026. Duties rose on 1,463 tariff lines across sectors including automotive, steel, plastics and appliances.
- Textile restriction, in force 20 December 2024. A December 2024 decree removed finished apparel from IMMEX temporary import.
An authorization is now easier to lose than it is to win. The annual report, the address records and the inventory system are what keep it alive, and the full routine is in staying compliant after IMMEX approval.
The May 2026 Decrees: Faster Permits, on Paper
The closest thing to IMMEX 4.0 published so far is the investment facilitation package of 4 May 2026. El Financiero reported that priority projects get an authorization in no more than 30 days. Other federal procedures must be resolved within 90 days or count as approved. And 132 foreign trade procedures move into one single window.
The same announcement claimed a 60% cut in energy generation permit timelines and a 76% cut at the health regulator. Plan Mexico’s original goal was to shrink investment procedures from 2.6 years to one year, so these decrees are the delivery mechanism for that promise.
The 90-day rule works on afirmativa ficta, meaning official silence counts as a yes. Keep the stamped filing receipt anyway, because silence is famously hard to show an auditor.
What We Tell Manufacturers Planning a Plant Right Now
Our advice for 2026 is simple: build the plan on the rules that exist, and treat IMMEX 4.0 as upside. These are the five points we walk every client through before a site shortlist is final.
- Do not wait for the decree. A reform with no publication date turns a known timeline into an unknown one. Apply under the current program.
- Model the tax deduction only after mapping the approval path. The decree has a peso cap and a committee constancia, so it belongs in the forecast as a scenario until approved.
- Never pick a site for its incentive. Power, water, labor depth and customs distance decide whether a plant runs. A deduction only decides how much tax it pays once it does.
- Budget compliance as a running cost. The 2026 enforcement reads like a government that intends to use its new fines.
- Read the investment headlines carefully. Mexico booked a record $40.87 billion in foreign direct investment in 2025, but nearly 68% was reinvested earnings. New investment was $7.38 billion, up nearly 133%.
That last number is the one that matters for site selection. New plants are still a minority of the money, but that minority more than doubled, and it is competing for the same parks with confirmed substation capacity. Nobody wants to be the plant that waited for a decree and then waited for a transformer.
If you need to produce before your own authorization exists, operating under an existing program through shelter services in Mexico is the usual bridge. The trade-offs between that route and running your own program are laid out in IMMEX vs. shelter.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is IMMEX 4.0?
IMMEX 4.0 is a proposed modernization of Mexico’s IMMEX export manufacturing program, announced under Plan Mexico in January 2025. It aims to merge VAT and IEPS certification with the IMMEX authorization and cut business launch time by 50%.
Is IMMEX 4.0 in effect?
No. As of September 2026 no IMMEX 4.0 decree has been published. All IMMEX applications and obligations still run under the existing IMMEX decree.
When will the IMMEX 4.0 decree be published?
There is no official date. Industry reports in September 2026 point to a possible announcement before the end of 2026, potentially at the INDEX National Convention in Monterrey on 28 October.
What incentives does the Plan Mexico decree offer?
An immediate deduction of 41% to 91% on new fixed assets for 2025 and 2026, 35% to 89% for 2027 to 2030, and an extra 25% deduction on increased training or innovation spending. Approval from the evaluation committee is required.
Do I need an IMMEX program to use the Plan Mexico tax incentives?
No. The tax decree is separate from IMMEX. Eligibility depends on tax status, a positive SAT compliance opinion, an investment project and a committee constancia, not on holding an IMMEX authorization.
What are Mexico’s development hubs?
They are designated zones, mainly along the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, where companies with their tax domicile inside the hub can take a 100% immediate deduction on new fixed assets from 2025 to 2030.
IMMEX 4.0 will change the paperwork one day. It will not change whether your site has power, water and a workforce within reach, and those are the decisions that set your start date. Send us your plant brief and we will score real sites against it, incentives included, free of charge.
