Vacation rentals in Tamaulipas, Mexico, where the law wants a number on every listing and a nights report every six months
If you manage vacation rentals in Tamaulipas, since March 18, 2026 the state Tourism Law has created a State Register of Hosts and Digital Lodging Platforms. Each home gets its own number, the number goes on every listing, and every January and July the host reports how many nights the home was rented. Hosts already renting have twelve months to register. The lodging tax is 3%, and in September 2026 Airbnb still wasn't collecting it. 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
The register rows come from the Tourism Law text published by the state congress, current to July 6, 2026. We read them on October 24, 2026.
| Topic | What it says | Status | Since | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Host register | Decree 66-1002 created the State Register of Hosts and Digital Lodging Platforms, run by the state tourism department. The host registers and enrolls each property, and each one gets a certificate and a number valid for one year. The law defines a host as someone who makes a home available for no more than 120 calendar days. | In force | March 18, 2026 | Tourism Law |
| What the host must do | Article 68 Ter asks the host to post the emergency numbers, their own contact and the registration number inside the home, to report every January and July how many times and how many nights the home was occupied, and to tell the immediate neighbors about the tourist use and give them a complaints number. A false or missing report gets the host removed from the register. | In force | March 18, 2026 | Tourism Law |
| What the platform must do | Article 68 Quáter has the platform register, require the certificate and number before a home can be listed, show them on every listing and report occupancy and complaints twice a year. Article 68 Octies makes it jointly liable for the lodging tax the host owes. | In force | March 18, 2026 | Tourism Law |
| Deadlines and guidelines | The tourism department had 180 calendar days from March 18 to issue the register's guidelines and forms, and anyone already renting has up to twelve months to register. As of October 24, 2026 we found neither the guidelines nor a working register. | In force, not enforced | Registration window to March 2027 | Tourism Law |
| Lodging tax | It's 3%, the same rate hotels pay. In September 2026 the tourism secretary, Benjamín Hernández Rodríguez, said talks with Airbnb to collect it had restarted and that he expected collection to start before the end of the year. | In force, not enforced | Report of September 3, 2026 | Posta |
The 120-day cap had stalled the talks with Airbnb, according to the same secretary, and its removal was moving through congress in September 2026. In the July text we read, the cap is still there.
Federal income tax and VAT withholding is the same across the country and is 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
The register brings new paperwork. If you manage homes for several owners, someone has to keep track of how many stays and how many nights each one had for the January and July reports, and each home's number has to be posted inside and entered on every platform where it's listed.
Holy Week is the big week. In 2026 the state government counted 2,141,272 visitors at its destinations, 14.16% more than in 2025, and 2,153 million pesos in spending over ten days, with hotels in Ciudad Madero, La Pesca, Tula and Gómez Farías at 100% (Uno TV).
AirROI counts 1,990 listings across eight markets, at 29% occupancy, with July as the best month and February the worst. The south and the border behave differently: in Tampico and Ciudad Madero guests book 23 to 26 days ahead, and in Reynosa, Matamoros and Nuevo Laredo 10 to 12, with 22% to 30% of guests from abroad. Reynosa airport lost 16.9% of its passengers in 2025, per OMA.
Where Upbridge fits
For the six-monthly report, we connect your Guesty, Hostaway, Lodgify, Uplisting or iCal calendar, and each checkout becomes a cleaning tied to its booking. That puts each home's stays for the half-year in one place, which is what article 68 Ter asks for.
In the guest guide we put the state emergency numbers, your contact and the registration number, which the law wants on display, plus how to get in and what to do if the water goes out, and we write it for you in both Spanish and English.
Before Holy Week, the inventory for each property warns you in the app, by email and on WhatsApp before the towels, toilet paper or soap run out.
If you manage vacation rentals or clean homes in Tamaulipas, in Tampico, Ciudad Madero or along the border, Upbridge helps with the work between one booking and the next.
If you run a cleaning company in Tamaulipas
In the south of the state the heaviest week is Holy Week, and on the border bookings come in ten days out. The cleaning company account puts every client's checkouts in one calendar, from each one's iCal or PMS, and a new checkout appears as soon as someone books. Your clients stay yours, and the account takes no percentage of any cleaning.
Cities and areas
Tampico and Ciudad Madero
AirROI counts 536 listings in Tampico and 588 in Ciudad Madero. Its page covers Playa Miramar, the airport and the rules Tampico city hall is preparing.
Reynosa, Matamoros and Nuevo Laredo
On the border there are 189 listings in Reynosa, 266 in Matamoros and 89 in Nuevo Laredo, per AirROI, with four- or five-night stays booked about ten days ahead.
Ciudad Victoria
The capital has 183 listings at 30% occupancy, booked just eight days ahead.
Other states
Nuevo León, San Luis Potosí and Veracruz border Tamaulipas.
Questions about running rentals in Tamaulipas
Do you have to register an Airbnb home in Tamaulipas?
Yes. Since March 18, 2026 the Tourism Law requires the host and each property to be enrolled in the State Register of Hosts and Digital Platforms, and hosts already renting have up to twelve months to do it. As of October 24, 2026 we found no published guidelines.
What report does the Tamaulipas law ask hosts for?
Every January and July, how many times each property was occupied and for how many nights. A false or missing report gets the host removed from the register, under article 68 Ter.
Does Airbnb collect the lodging tax in Tamaulipas?
Not yet. On September 3, 2026 the tourism secretary told Posta that talks had restarted and that collection, at 3%, should start before the end of 2026.
Sources
Checked on October 24, 2026
- Tamaulipas state congress, Ley de Turismo del Estado de Tamaulipas, consolidated text, with the Decree 66-1002 reform (state gazette 32, March 17, 2026) and last amendment applied July 6, 2026.
- Posta, Sanjua Pineda, "Tamaulipas cobrará impuesto a Airbnb: así será el nuevo esquema", September 3, 2026.
- Uno TV, Iván Grifaldo, "Tamaulipas con alta afluencia turística en Semana Santa 2026", April 8, 2026.
- OMA, passenger traffic at its airports in 2024 and 2025, from its fourth-quarter report, February 23, 2026.
- AirROI, the eight Airbnb markets of Tamaulipas, twelve months to September 2026, data as of October 1, 2026.