by Allan Wall, Mexico News Report, ©2025
(Jul. 23, 2025) — One element in the recent “Big Beautiful Bill” passed by the U.S. Congress and signed by President Trump is the tax on remittances.
Here’s the Wikipedia definition of “remittance”: “A remittance is a non-commercial transfer of money by a foreign worker, a member of a diaspora community, or a citizen with familial ties abroad, for household income in their [sic] home country or homeland.”
The new law takes effect January 1st, 2026, and will charge a 1% tax on remittances sent from the United States.
However, this tax is only to be applied to cash transfers, cashier’s checks, money orders and similar instruments. Examples include cash transfers through Western Union or MoneyGram.
It doesn’t apply to electronic transfers.
The government of Mexico is providing a card to enable Mexicans in the U.S. to send remittances electronically and not be subject to the remittance tax.
From Perplexity: “President Claudia Sheinbaum on Friday [July 18] promoted a government banking card that allows Mexican migrants in the United States to circumvent a new remittance tax set to take effect next year. Speaking at her morning press conference, Sheinbaum brandished a Finabien card for cameras while encouraging its use for electronic money transfers.”
“The Financial Institution for Well-being (Finabien) [that’s Financiera para el Bienestar in Spanish] card enables users to send remittances electronically, avoiding the 1% federal excise tax that will apply to cash transfers starting January 1, 2026. The tax, part of President Donald Trump’s legislative package, targets outbound money transfers but exempts electronic transactions.”
Read the rest here.