The question arrives almost word for word on many first calls: "how much will I make if I put the condo on Airbnb?" And it usually comes with a percentage already in mind, taken from an ad or a video.
On September 11, 2026 we read in full the three English guides Google showed first for that question. Everything Playa del Carmen publishes close to thirty figures, none with a source. Reference Real Estate attributes its occupancy to "platform data" without saying which. TheLatinvestor does name AirROI and mentions the state lodging tax. None of the three says how much VAT and income tax the platform withholds before it pays you, and that is the stretch that moves the result most. This guide walks it line by line, each with the article that sets it.
What Airbtics and AirROI report
Third-party data helps you get your bearings, as long as you read it side by side. Airbtics, for February 2025 to January 2026, reports 57% occupancy, a daily rate of 1,287 pesos, annual revenue of 272 thousand pesos, 8,790 active listings and 16% growth in listings. AirROI, for August 2025 to July 2026 and updated August 8, reports 36.7% occupancy, a 137 dollar rate, 11,668 dollars a year, 7,961 listings and revenue 8.9% lower than the year before.
Each figure is as its source publishes it: one reports in pesos and the other in US dollars, and revenue is not simply rate times occupancy. Both describe the same city, but they do not cover the same period or count the same listings, so neither describes your unit. Read together, Airbtics with 16% more listings and AirROI with revenue 8.9% lower, they point to more supply without more revenue. AirROI puts the peak in February and the weakest month in September, so do not build the plan on high-season occupancy all twelve months.
Lodging tax and VAT
The first line is paid by your guest, even though it shows up in the total they see. Article 8 of the Quintana Roo Lodging Tax Law sets 6% for private apartments, houses and villas; article 7 names the person paying for the stay as the taxpayer, and article 12 says the tax never forms part of the value of the service. It sits on top of your rate. Where it is paid through a platform, article 4 requires the platform to withhold and remit it; where lodging is your economic activity, withholding and payment are made through you. The registrations that fall on you as a host are in our live and rent guide.
The second line is VAT. Article 1 of the Value Added Tax Law sets the 16% rate and requires it to be passed on, expressly and separately, to whoever has the temporary use of the property. Article 20, fraction II exempts the temporary use of property intended or used exclusively as a dwelling, and the same fraction closes by saying it does not apply to property, or parts of it, that is provided furnished or intended or used as hotels or lodging houses. A condo on Airbnb is rented furnished, so the exemption does not reach it.
Article 18-K requires you to offer the price stating VAT separately, and article 18-J, fraction I lets the platform publish prices marked "VAT included". If your rate is published VAT included, the tax comes out of that price: out of every 1,160 pesos, 160 are VAT and 1,000 are your income.
How much VAT the platform withholds
Article 18-J, fraction II, subsection a) requires the platform that collects the price and VAT on the host's behalf to withhold, from individual hosts, 50% of the VAT collected, and 100% if you did not give it your tax ID (RFC). You declare the other half yourself, unless you take the election in article 18-M, which makes the withholding final when the platform withheld on all your transactions; anything you collect directly is declared monthly at 8%. Article 18-L limits that election to those who earned up to 300,000 pesos from platform-intermediated activity in the prior year and receive no income from other sources, except wages and interest. There is fine print: fraction II of 18-M bars crediting or reducing expenses and investments against the tax calculated at the 8% rate, and the election cannot be changed for five years.
A rule in the Federal Revenue Law for 2026 hits a foreign owner hardest. Its article 25, fraction IX applies when the platform collects the price and VAT on the host's behalf and, in addition to the 18-J obligations, requires it to withhold 100% of the VAT collected when the people providing the service or granting temporary use, in the words of subsection c), "depositen los montos de las operaciones realizadas en cuentas bancarias o de depósito ubicadas en el extranjero": deposit the amounts of the transactions in bank or deposit accounts located abroad. If your payout lands in an account in the United States or Canada, the VAT withholding is 100% rather than 50%. That law governs the 2026 fiscal year; check the 2027 law once it is published.
The 4% income tax is an advance payment
Article 113-A of the Income Tax Law requires the platform to withhold from individuals with business activity on the total they actually receive through it, excluding VAT. Its fraction II sets 4% for lodging services, and the same article says that withholding has the character of a provisional payment. If the 1,000 pesos of the example is what you actually receive, the platform sets aside 40 toward your annual tax.
The 2026 Revenue Law, in its article 25, fraction VI, changed the fraction III withholding, the one for sales of goods and provision of services, to 2.5%. Lodging stays at 4%.
Whether to make the 4% withholding final depends on your expenses. Article 113-B allows it for those whose only income is from platforms, plus wages or interest, provided that platform income did not exceed 300,000 pesos in the prior year, with notice to the tax authority within 30 days after you receive your first platform income and a five-year lock. Its subsection a) states the cost: you cannot take the deductions for those activities against the tax calculated at the withholding rates. With a condo that pays condo fees, electricity and replacements, giving that up can be expensive. Before choosing, ask your accountant for both calculations.
The full example, with an RFC and a Mexican bank account: out of 1,160 pesos of VAT-included rate, the platform withholds 80 of VAT and, if 1,000 is what you actually receive, 40 of income tax. With an account abroad, the VAT withholding rises to 160. The platform's own fee comes off separately, and it can be 4% or 16%.
Airbnb's fee depends on how you operate
Airbnb's service fee page, consulted on September 11, 2026, describes two structures. Under the split fee, hosts with listings in Mexico pay 4% and the guest between 14.1% and 16.5% of the subtotal, which is the nightly price plus any additional fees the host charges, excluding the guest service fee and taxes. Under the single fee, Mexico hosts pay 16%, and the page says the entire fee is deducted from the host's payout. That single fee is mandatory for certain hosts, including those who use property management software.
This matters when you hire management: if the company running your unit works with that software, your fee moves from 4% to 16% of the subtotal and the split-fee charge the guest used to pay no longer applies. If you do not adjust the rate, the difference comes out of your income. Ask in writing before you sign.
Costs you need quoted
Everything so far comes from a public text. What follows depends on the unit, and we are not going to put a generic percentage on it.
- Management. The three guides we read publish ranges between 15% and 30% of revenue and none says where they come from. Ask for the proposal in writing, with what it covers and what base it charges on.
- Condo fees, from the building administration's statement.
- Electricity. Air conditioning runs most of the year and the high-consumption residential tariff changes the math; the mechanism is in our cost of living guide.
- Property tax and the cost of closing the purchase, in our tax guide.
- Replacing linens, furniture and appliances, which wear faster in short-term rental.
- Empty months, especially September, the weakest according to AirROI.
With those lines quoted and the legal lines above, net yield gets calculated with your building's numbers.
Before all of this, the condo bylaws
Some buildings have bylaws that limit or prohibit short-term rental, and if they prohibit it, the unit cannot be offered on Airbnb. Article 41 of the Quintana Roo condominium law requires the bylaws to be attached to the appendix of the founding deed and delivered to each buyer; what to look for in them is in our live and rent guide. If the purchase is off plan, the time without income until delivery is counted separately, and we cover it in our pre-construction guide.
When we tell a client an Airbnb is not for them
When they need the rent to cover the mortgage or installment payment from month one. When they plan to operate from far away with nobody on site, because cleaning, keys and surprises do not wait. When their number only works at the highest occupancy any source publishes. And when they will receive payouts in an account abroad, or without giving the platform their RFC, without counting on the fact that either one takes the VAT withholding to 100%.
Long-term rental earns less but demands less operation, and for many profiles it is the better answer.
Where to go next
If you are a foreign buyer, start with the bank trust. To choose a neighborhood, our areas guide; to compare markets, Playa del Carmen versus Tulum and Cozumel; and to review a project, the purchase process and the fraud warning signs.
List prices as of September 11, 2026: BUZZ, in Playa del Carmen, from 2,000,000 MXN, and THE STELLA, in Cozumel, from 12,400,000 MXN. If you want the breakdown for a specific unit, with these lines and real quotes, write to us, or start by browsing the properties.
This guide is informational and is not tax advice. The texts were consulted on September 11, 2026 and are linked above; the linked compilation of the state lodging tax law is the December 23, 2022 version. Your regime and your numbers are confirmed by an accountant.