SAT

The SAT, Servicio de Administración Tributaria, is Mexico's federal tax administration, the rough counterpart of the IRS, but with a much more direct role in freight operations. The SAT issues the RFC tax identity every Mexican company and person operates under, runs the CFDI electronic invoicing system that all Mexican billing flows through, and defines the Carta Porte complement that freight must carry on federal highways. It also administers trusted trade certification through the OEA program. Customs operations themselves moved to ANAM in 2022, but the SAT remains the fiscal backbone of Mexican trade.

What this means when you move freight

You cannot vet or pay a Mexican carrier without touching SAT infrastructure. A carrier's fiscal reality is documented in SAT artifacts: the RFC, the Constancia de Situación Fiscal showing status and registered activities, and the ability to issue a valid, SAT-stamped CFDI invoice with Carta Porte. A carrier that cannot produce current SAT documentation is either informal or hiding something, and either way is a risk on cross-border freight. For U.S. brokers, the practical takeaway is that Mexican compliance runs on tax rails: where American vetting starts at FMCSA, Mexican vetting starts at the SAT. Build both into your onboarding checklist for cross-border carriers.