Sending money to Mexico just got more expensive— here’s what to know

Money transferred from the U.S. to Mexico will be subject to a new tax starting on Jan. 1 under the Trump administration’s Big Beautiful Bill law.

All remittances sent from the U.S. will have a 1% tax collected by the financial institution and sent to the federal government. It only applies to cash and check transfers — not money sent online.

But that could still mean a lot of money collected from remittances sent by Texas residents, the second-largest state by value of transfers to Mexico.

Mexico’s national bank, Banxico, showed that $2.3 billion of remittances from Texas to Mexico were sent in July. More than $66 billion in remittances were sent to Mexico from around the world in 2024, the vast majority from Mexicans working in the U.S. who sent money back to their families.

Mexico’s president, Claudia Sheinbaum, opposes the new law, which was previously proposed to be 5% but was reduced to 1% after pushback. Sheinbaum also promised to reimburse Mexican nationals for the tax value.

Instead, she’s encouraging Mexican nationals living in the U.S. to obtain a government-backed bank card known as Finabien, which can be used to transfer money back and forth for a $2.50 flat fee while avoiding the remittance tax up to $10,000 a month.