Mexico City Digital Nomads: Keep a U.S. LLC Work-Location Log
U.S. clients and a U.S. bank do not show where services happened. Use this Mexico City work-location log to prepare a clearer cross-border tax file.
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Published September 22, 2026
A digital nomad working from Mexico City should record where services were physically performed—not just where customers paid from. For U.S. sourcing of personal-service income, work location generally matters more than the client's address or payment account. Your Mexican tax-residency and local-business obligations require a separate review.
This article addresses a non-U.S. individual with a single-member U.S. LLC treated as disregarded, without a corporate election. It is not a U.S.-expat tax guide or an assessment of your right to work in Mexico.
The invoice cannot answer every tax question
A consultant might have a Delaware LLC, a U.S. account, and a New York customer while doing the actual work in an apartment in Roma Norte. Those are four different facts.
The IRS personal-service sourcing guidance generally looks to where the services are performed, irrespective of the contract location, payment location, or payer's residence. If work occurs partly in the United States, an allocation may be necessary.
That does not mean all income of an online business follows this rule. Royalties, inventory sales, and other income categories can use different sourcing rules. Nor does it settle whether a U.S. trade or business, an applicable treaty, or a separate filing requirement changes the outcome.
A work-location log you can maintain weekly
Use one row per work period, splitting a project when your physical location changes. Keep travel evidence alongside the log.
| Field | Example entry | Why retain it? |
|---|---|---|
| Project and contract | Website redesign, contract MC-04 | Connects work to a specific payment |
| Service dates | September 7–11, 2026 | Separates earning activity from collection |
| Physical location | Mexico City, Mexico | Records where services occurred |
| Work performed | Design review and implementation | Distinguishes services from other income |
| Invoice and receipt | Invoice 104, paid September 18 | Reconciles the commercial records |
| Supporting evidence | Calendar, travel record, accommodation dates | Helps resolve later discrepancies |
This is a recordkeeping template, not a prescribed IRS form. You do not need to record every coffee shop. You do need a reliable account of country changes and the work attached to them.
Example: a short U.S. trip during a client project
Suppose you spend most of a project in Mexico City but travel to the United States for several days. Mark whether those days were vacation, meetings, or actual service delivery. Do not automatically classify every travel day as a workday—or ignore a day of billable work because the trip was short.
Give the contract, work log, and travel dates to your U.S. adviser. Let that adviser determine sourcing, any appropriate allocation, and whether personal U.S. filing is required. A log is evidence for that decision, not a “zero tax” certificate.
Mexico does not reduce to a generic 183-day rule
The Mexican tax authority's residency guidance discusses a home in Mexico and, where homes exist in more than one country, income and the centre of professional activities. It does not present a universal short-stay exemption for digital nomads.
Keep your accommodation arrangements, other homes, work pattern, and local registrations in a separate residency folder. Ask a Mexican adviser to examine those facts and the LLC's treatment. An American client list does not resolve them.
Keep the Form 5472 ledger separate
Your work log explains activity. Your related-party ledger explains transactions between the LLC and its foreign owner or other related parties. The Form 5472 instructions address this reporting separately, including contributions and distributions for foreign-owned disregarded entities.
An owner contribution used to fund the business can require reporting even when the work log supports foreign-source services. Keep both records; neither replaces the other.
Changing destinations? The digital-nomad filing hub links the related country guides and practical checklists.
Frequently asked questions
Does getting paid in dollars make the services U.S.-source?
No. Payment currency does not replace the physical-work-location test for personal services. First confirm that the receipt is actually service income rather than another category.
Can I use my invoice dates as my work dates?
Only if they accurately reflect when the work occurred. An invoice issued after a project ends is not, by itself, a record of where you performed the services.
Turn your records into a filing
For the broader filing framework, see Form 5472 for Mexico residents. If your LLC fits the foreign-owned disregarded-entity scope, start your Form 5472 preparation with its ownership records and related-party transaction totals ready.
Educational information, checked September 22, 2026. Have qualified U.S. and Mexican advisers confirm your filing obligations and tax treatment.