Selling into Mexico and Brazil on Mercado Libre from a U.S. Company: Who Pays Duties, VAT and Income Tax?

When you sell into Mexico or Brazil through Mercado Libre Global Selling and ship direct to consumers, import duties and import VAT are legally the buyer's: Mercado Libre collects an estimate at checkout and the carrier clears customs and pays in the buyer's name. Your U.S. company doesn't pay those taxes, but they are built into the price the buyer sees. The profit is still reported on your U.S. return, and goods shipped abroad generally carry no U.S. sales tax. Once you put stock in a Full warehouse in Mexico, the import and a Mexican tax ID become your job.

Direct orders: you export, the buyer imports

Mercado Libre's international sales terms are explicit. The foreign seller is the seller and exporter of record and must make sure goods can lawfully be exported, imported and sold in the destination country. The buyer is the importer, buying for personal or household use. The Mexico terms add that Mercado Libre doesn't issue CFDI invoices for international products, because it is neither seller nor importer.

The buyer's final price has three parts: the product price, shipping and import costs. Import costs are duties and taxes the platform estimates and collects; the carrier, authorized by the buyer, files the entry and pays. If the actual charges differ from the estimate, the platform can charge the buyer the difference.

So in the direct model, Mexican duties or Brazilian import taxes never appear on your U.S. company's books; the import costs the platform collects are neither your revenue nor your expense. What you do own is accuracy: truthful values and descriptions, and products that meet the destination's certification and prohibited-item rules. Goods held by customs are generally not returned to origin.

Mexico: the courier rate rose to 33.5% in 2026

Mexico taxes courier and e-commerce parcels at a global rate. A decree published December 29, 2025 raised the rate for parcels up to $2,500 from countries without a trade agreement with Mexico, China included, from 19% to 33.5% starting January 1, 2026. Parcels from the U.S. and Canada are outside that increase and keep the USMCA tiers: duty-free up to $50, 17% from $50 to $117, and 19% from $117 to $2,500.

That is an opening for U.S. sellers: the same item can cost a Mexican buyer much less in import charges shipped from the U.S. than shipped from China. Watch origin, though. Whether Chinese-made goods shipped from the U.S. get USMCA treatment depends on origin rules and the carrier's practice. Don't shade customs data to chase a lower rate; the consequences of a false declaration fall on the seller.

Brazil: 0% up to $50 under Remessa Conforme since May 2026

For cross-border goods sold to individuals through certified Remessa Conforme platforms, the Receita Federal table updated September 14, 2026 shows: customs value (goods plus freight and insurance) up to $50, 0% import tax; from $50 to $3,000, 60% less a $30 discount. State ICMS of 17% to 20% applies on top, computed inside the price with the import tax in the base. Mercado Livre was certified under Remessa Conforme in 2023.

The 20% rate up to $50 ran from August 2024 to May 11, 2026; from May 12, 2026 it is 0%, and the discount above $50 rose from $20 to $30. Sales to Brazilian business buyers (CNPJ) don't get this treatment. Global Selling has no Full warehouse in Brazil, so cross-border sales there ship direct.

Example: what two items cost the buyer in tax

Example (hypothetical numbers, to show the method): an item with a customs value of $40 including freight, shipped from China to Mexico at the 33.5% global rate, carries about $13.40 in import charges for the buyer.

The same $40 item sold into Brazil: 0% import tax; ICMS at 17% computed inside the price, so the base is $40 ÷ (1 − 17%) = $48.19 and ICMS is about $8.19. A second item with an $80 customs value: import tax $80 × 60% − $30 = $18; the ICMS base is ($80 + $18) ÷ 83% = $118.07, ICMS is about $20.07, and the buyer's taxes total about $38.07.

Brazil's $50 line is a sharp price point, and Mexico weighs heavily on goods shipped from China. Price with the platform's revenue calculator and look at the buyer's final price, not just your net proceeds.

Once stock goes into Full Mexico, the rules change

Full Mexico is Mercado Libre's warehouse service in Mexico, with next-day delivery and better ranking. Under the Mexico terms, a foreign seller using Full must prove the goods were lawfully imported and meet Mexican sales rules; Mercado Libre can ask for invoices, import entries (pedimentos), permits, packing lists, certificates of origin, bills of lading and tax receipts, and if you can't prove it, customs proceedings costs are yours. The terms also require a valid Mexican RFC to invoice buyers.

In other words, with Full Mexico you, or the importer of record you hire, are the Mexican importer, and duties and import VAT are your costs; a sale of goods already in Mexico also brings Mexican VAT and platform withholding rules into play. Mexico widened platform withholding of income tax and VAT in 2026; rates and conditions are for a Mexican tax adviser to confirm.

On the U.S. side: income tax yes, sales tax generally no

The profit is your U.S. company's income. A single-member LLC owned by a U.S. person reports it on Schedule C, an S corporation on Form 1120-S, a C corporation on Form 1120. A C corporation's profit from sales to foreign persons for foreign use can take the FDDEI deduction of 33.34% from 2026, for an effective federal rate of about 14%.

Exports generally carry no U.S. sales tax. Sales to Mexican and Brazilian buyers shipped from the U.S. or China don't involve state sales tax. If you use Mercado Libre's U.S. Full warehouse, though, the stock sits in a U.S. state, and that state's income or franchise tax may apply; for example, companies doing business in California pay an $800 minimum each year.

Book Latin American withholding separately. Sales into Colombia above 31,300 UVT trigger 10% withholding under the significant economic presence rules, and whether a gross-basis tax like that is creditable in the U.S. has to be checked item by item.

Learn more

The four ways to sell, Global Selling's onboarding documents and fees, an entity-choice table and a pre-onboarding checklist are in our Mercado Libre seller guide. If you're not sure which company to use or where to keep stock, book a free 15-minute call or message us on WeChat at YCLUSA.