The Comisión para la Industria de Vinos y Licores (Civyl) presented a proposal on August 25 to the Finance Ministry (Secretaría de Hacienda) and the Chamber of Deputies to replace the existing IEPS excise tax on alcoholic beverages, currently calculated on price, with a levy based on alcohol content, in preparation for the 2027 Economic Package.
The proposal arrives roughly three weeks before the federal government is set to deliver the 2027 Economic Package, in the midst of debate over the fiscal miscellaneous bill. Civyl argues that the current structure allows a cheap, high-alcohol beverage to pay less tax in peso terms than a formally produced product with aging or a denomination of origin, pushing consumers toward the informal market: in 2023, 44.2 percent of the volume of spirits consumed in Mexico came from that market, equivalent to 21.8 million nine-liter cases, according to Euromonitor data cited by the industry, with annual tax evasion estimated at roughly 19,500 million pesos. El Universal reports that the sector is aligning the change with the World Health Organization's recommendation to tax by alcohol content in order to discourage consumption of high-alcohol, low-price beverages.
Civyl's director general, Panambí Garcés, stated that between 2020 and 2023 informal spirits consumption grew 54.9 percent, nearly double the 28.5 percent growth in the formal market, and that real IEPS revenue from alcoholic beverages, excluding beer, fell 7.3 percent between January and June 2026. "We align with the public policy of President Claudia Sheinbaum, which views IEPS as a tool not only for fiscal purposes but for public health," Garcés said, directing the proposal to the Finance Ministry, the Health Ministry, and the Chamber of Deputies. The 3,900 million peso estimate is grounded in a tax simulator from the Cámara Nacional de la Industria Tequilera, in use since 2020, with an average deviation of 2.35 percent from observed revenue between 2020 and 2025.
The proposal now awaits consideration by the Finance Ministry and Congress, which will receive the 2027 Economic Package in roughly three weeks. Whether the alcohol-content levy is included in the fiscal miscellaneous bill will determine the tax framework for wines, spirits, and craft beer for the coming fiscal year.
This article was written with artificial intelligence assistance from verified sources and reviewed by a human editor before publication.