Vacation rentals in Colima, Mexico, where the tax law names furnished homes and booking platforms
If you manage vacation rentals in Colima, a June 2024 amendment to the state revenue law spelled out that furnished houses and apartments owe a 3% lodging tax, and that the platform taking the booking withholds it. Airbnb started withholding it in the state in September 2024. Almost all the business sits on the coast. Of the six Colima markets AirROI tracks, Manzanillo has 1,130 active listings and the next one, Colima city, has 226. Upbridge's AI operations assistant, Cleo, works over WhatsApp with vacation rental operators and cleaning companies and organizes the cleanings and the inventory for each place.
The rules here
We read the revenue law and the tourism law in the copies the Colima state congress publishes, and checked every row on October 23, 2026.
| Topic | What it says | Status | Since | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lodging tax | Article 41 C sets 3% for hotels, bungalows, hostels, villas and furnished houses and apartments, including stays booked through a platform. Motels pay 5%. The return is due by the 17th of the month after payment. | In force | June 29, 2024 (Decree 468) | Colima revenue law |
| Platform withholding | When a booking comes through an intermediary or a platform, that company withholds the tax and has to register with the state taxpayer registry. If it doesn't pay over what it withheld, the law makes the host pay the shortfall. Milenio reported that Airbnb has withheld in Colima since September 2024. | In force | June 29, 2024 (Decree 468) | Milenio |
| Taxpayer registration | Anyone providing lodging has fifteen days from the first rental to sign up with the Registro Estatal de Contribuyentes at their local state revenue office. | In force | December 31, 2022 (Decree 225) | Colima revenue law |
| Tourism registry | The state tourism law counts houses used for lodging as a tourism service and tells those providers to sign up with both the national and the state tourism registries. We found no separate register for nightly rentals, and AirROI saw no registration number on any Manzanillo listing. | In force | May 3, 2014 (Decree 299) | Colima tourism law |
| Short-term rental law | We found no law and no bill in the Colima congress that caps nights or sets separate rules for short stays. | No specific law | Checked October 23, 2026 | Upbridge search |
Federal income tax and VAT withholding by the platforms works the same in every state, so it lives on the Mexico page.
This is not legal or tax advice, and Upbridge does not file anything for you: no registrations and no tax returns.
How it works on the ground
AirROI sees the same year in nearly every market in the state, with December the strongest month and September the weakest. So September is when you do the deep cleans, the painting and the new linens, and in December your cleaning crew should expect a checkout almost every day.
Inland it runs differently. Villa de Álvarez has 130 listings and the highest occupancy in the state at 34%, and its revenue grew 17% in a year while Manzanillo's fell 6%. A house near the capital that books more often needs more cleanings a month than a beach house of the same size, and it goes through soap, toilet paper and coffee faster.
Bookings that come to you directly, over WhatsApp or from repeat guests, skip any platform's withholding, which leaves the 3% for you to charge and file. It helps to record where every booking came from, so your accountant can tell which ones were already withheld.
Where Upbridge fits
The September deep clean can be scheduled ahead. With photo checklists, a list repeats on the date you pick, and the cleaner ticks off each room on their phone with photos and comments. When they finish you get a report with the time of every photo.
For December, when checkouts pile up, we connect the calendar you already use, whether that's Guesty, Hostaway, Lodgify, Uplisting or an iCal feed, and each checkout turns into an assigned cleaning task.
With per-property inventory you set which products each stay uses up, and they come off the count on their own. When something runs low, the alert reaches you in the app, by email and on WhatsApp, which is where a busy house in Villa de Álvarez feels it most.
If you manage vacation rentals or run a cleaning company in Colima, on the coast or around the capital, Upbridge can help with what happens between one booking and the next, from the cleaner's photos to the guide your guest opens on their phone.
If you run a cleaning company in Colima
What drives your schedule here is the season, quiet in September and full in December, and the fact that most of the state's listings are in Manzanillo. The cleaning company account puts every client's checkouts on one calendar, from whichever iCal or PMS each owner uses. The client stays yours, and we take no cut of any job.
Cities and areas
Manzanillo
AirROI counts 1,130 active listings there, more than every other market in the state combined, at 27% occupancy. Its page covers the port, the airport, Hurricane Trudy and the Santiago well.
Colima city and Villa de Álvarez
The capital and Villa de Álvarez have grown into one urban area. AirROI tracks 226 listings in Colima city, with the steadiest income in the state across the year, since its worst month brings in about 60% of its best. Villa de Álvarez adds 130 more.
Comala and Tecomán
Both are small markets. AirROI sees 31 listings in Comala, with high nightly rates and 22% occupancy, and 52 in Tecomán.
Other states
Questions about running rentals in Colima
What is the lodging tax in Colima for an Airbnb house?
3%, under article 41 C of Colima's revenue law, which since Decree 468 of June 2024 names furnished houses and apartments and booking platforms. Motels pay 5%.
Does Airbnb withhold the Colima lodging tax?
Airbnb does withhold it. Milenio reported in December 2024 that Airbnb began withholding it in Colima that September. If a platform fails to pay over what it withheld, the law has the host pay the difference.
Which Colima registry does a nightly rental host sign up with?
The revenue law requires the state taxpayer registry within fifteen days of starting, and the tourism law asks for the national and state tourism registries. As of October 23, 2026 we found no separate register for nightly rentals.
Sources
Checked on October 23, 2026
- Colima State Congress, Ley de Hacienda del Estado de Colima, lodging tax chapter, articles 41 A to 41 F, text as amended June 30, 2026.
- Colima State Congress, Ley de Turismo del Estado de Colima, article 5 and the duties of tourism providers, last amended October 20, 2018.
- Milenio, Roberto Valadez, "Airbnb comenzó a retener impuesto sobre hospedaje en Colima", December 10, 2024.
- AirROI, Airbnb data for the state of Colima, six markets, October 2025 to September 2026, updated October 1, 2026.