Specialized Services Subcontracting Agreement Mexico (Acuerdo de Subcontratación de Servicios Especializados)

A Specialized Services Subcontracting Agreement Mexico (Acuerdo de Subcontratación de Servicios Especializados) is a formal written contract between an empresa contratante (client company) and a contratista or prestadora (specialized service provider) that complies with the restructured legal framework established by the Decreto por el que se reforman, adicionan y derogan diversas disposiciones de la Ley Federal del Trabajo, la Ley del Seguro Social, la Ley del Instituto del Fondo Nacional de la Vivienda para los Trabajadores, el Código Fiscal de la Federación, la Ley del Impuesto sobre la Renta, la Ley del Impuesto al Valor Agregado, la Ley Federal de los Trabajadores al Servicio del Estado, y la Ley Reglamentaria del Artículo 5° Constitucional — published in the Diario Oficial de la Federación on 23 April 2021 and commonly known as the reforma de subcontratación 2021 (2021 outsourcing reform).

Prior to the 2021 reform, Mexico's Ley Federal del Trabajo (LFT) Articles 13–15-D permitted broad outsourcing (subcontratación) of personnel — allowing companies to contract with third-party employers (intermediarios) to supply workers who performed permanent, primary business activities of the client. This structure was widely used to avoid Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social (IMSS) quotas, Instituto del Fondo Nacional de la Vivienda para los Trabajadores (INFONAVIT) contributions, and Servicio de Administración Tributaria (SAT) obligations including PTU (Participación de los Trabajadores en las Utilidades) profit-sharing payments. The 2021 reform eliminated this model entirely: the reformed LFT Article 13 prohibits subcontratación de personal — the supply of workers by one employer to another — except in the narrowly defined circumstances of specialized services and specialized work.

Under the reformed LFT Articles 15-A through 15-D, only subcontratación de servicios especializados o de ejecución de obras especializadas — specialized services or specialized construction work that do not form part of the client company's objeto social (corporate purpose) or predominant activity (actividad económica preponderante) — remains permitted. The specialized service provider (empresa contratista or prestadora de servicios especializados) must: (1) be registered in the Registro de Prestadoras de Servicios Especializados u Obras Especializadas (REPSE) maintained by the Secretaría del Trabajo y Previsión Social (STPS) under LFT Article 15-B; (2) obtain a registration number (número de autorización REPSE) renewed every three years; and (3) provide documentary evidence of REPSE registration to the client company before work begins.

The Acuerdo de Subcontratación de Servicios Especializados governs the contractual relationship between client and specialized provider, establishes the compliance framework required by LFT Articles 15-A through 15-D, and documents the information-sharing obligations that the client must fulfill to satisfy IMSS, INFONAVIT, SAT, and Centro Federal de Conciliación y Registro Laboral (CFCRL) quarterly reporting requirements. The client company and the specialized service provider are jointly liable (responsabilidad solidaria) for the specialized provider's LFT, IMSS, INFONAVIT, Impuesto sobre la Renta (ISR), and Impuesto al Valor Agregado (IVA) obligations — making the contractual documentation framework critical to both parties' compliance.

The 2021 reform simultaneously amended the Ley del Impuesto sobre la Renta (LISR) and the Ley del Impuesto al Valor Agregado (LIVA) to condition the deductibility of specialized service payments and the crediting of input IVA on the client company's verification that the provider is REPSE-registered and tax-compliant per CFF (Código Fiscal de la Federación) Article 32-D opinion. Without a properly documented Acuerdo that includes the REPSE registration number and the information-sharing mechanisms required by the SAT, the client risks losing LISR deductions and LIVA credits — making this agreement essential for fiscal risk management.

A Specialized Services Subcontracting Agreement Mexico is required every time a Mexican company engages a third-party provider whose workers will perform specialized services at the client's facilities or under the client's operational supervision — and those services are genuinely specialized and outside the client's predominant corporate activity (actividad económica preponderante) as registered with the SAT and IMSS.

The agreement is needed when a manufacturing company (empresa manufacturera) engages a specialized cleaning services contractor (empresa de limpieza), specialized security services provider (empresa de seguridad privada registered with the Secretaría de Seguridad y Protección Ciudadana — SSPC), specialized IT maintenance company, specialized catering provider (empresa de comedores industriales), or specialized transportation contractor — activities genuinely outside the manufacturer's corporate object. Each relationship requires a separate Acuerdo de Subcontratación de Servicios Especializados, and the provider must have a valid REPSE number covering the specific specialized activity.

Deductibility under LISR Article 25 is specifically required for client companies seeking to deduct payments to the service provider. The SAT conditions deductibility and IVA crediting on: (a) the provider holding a valid REPSE registration; (b) the client obtaining and archiving monthly copies of the provider's IMSS quota payment receipts (comprobantes de pago de cuotas al IMSS through the Sistema Unico de Autodeterminacion - SUA), INFONAVIT contribution receipts, and Comprobante Fiscal Digital por Internet (CFDI) for the services; and (c) quarterly reporting to the STPS of specialized service contracts through the STPS online portal. Without the written agreement establishing these information-flow obligations, the client cannot systematically collect documentation required for SAT audit defense.

The Acuerdo is also required when a Mexican company engages workers through an insourcing structure — establishing a wholly-owned service subsidiary that employs the workers and provides services to the operating company. Post-2021 reform, insourcing subsidiaries must also register in REPSE if the services they provide constitute specialized services, and the intra-group service agreement between operating company and service subsidiary must comply with LFT Articles 15-A through 15-D, including the joint liability provisions of Article 15-C.

Under the USMCA/T-MEC Annex 23-A rapid response mechanism administered jointly by Mexico's Secretaría de Economía and the Centro Federal de Conciliación y Registro Laboral (CFCRL), specialized service contractors at Mexican export facilities are subject to labour rights rapid response complaints. A well-documented Subcontracting Agreement establishing the client's oversight of the provider's LFT and IMSS compliance is a key defense element in such proceedings.

Financial institutions (bancos, aseguradoras, AFORES) subject to CNBV (Comisión Nacional Bancaria y de Valores) and CNSF (Comisión Nacional de Seguros y Fianzas) supervision are required by their respective regulatory frameworks to maintain outsourcing risk management policies that include documented specialized service agreements, REPSE verification procedures, and ongoing provider compliance monitoring — making the Acuerdo a regulatory compliance document in the financial sector.

A valid Specialized Services Subcontracting Agreement Mexico under the reformed LFT Articles 13–15-D and the 2021 reforma de subcontratación must contain the following elements to satisfy STPS, IMSS, INFONAVIT, SAT, and CFCRL requirements and to protect the client company from joint liability for provider non-compliance.

Party Identification and REPSE Registration: Full legal name, RFC, and domicilio fiscal of both the empresa contratante (client) and the empresa contratista (specialized service provider), together with the provider's REPSE number (número de autorización REPSE) issued by the STPS under LFT Article 15-B, the REPSE registration expiration date, and the specific specialized activity categories covered. The client must verify REPSE registration through the STPS online REPSE verification portal at repse.stps.gob.mx before signing the agreement and at each contract renewal.

Specialized Service Description: A precise description of the specialized services or specialized works to be performed — identifying why the services are specialized (specific technical expertise, specialized equipment, regulatory certifications required from authorities such as the COFEPRIS or SSPC) and confirming that the services do not form part of the client's objeto social or actividad económica preponderante as registered with the SAT and IMSS. This confirmation is critical to establishing compliance with LFT Article 15-A's scope limitation and to defending against STPS reclassification of the arrangement as prohibited subcontratación de personal under reformed Article 13.

Contract Term, Renewal, and REPSE Alignment: The contract start and end date, with renewal provisions aligned to the provider's REPSE registration renewal cycle (every three years). The agreement must include automatic suspension of services if the provider's REPSE registration lapses or is revoked, since the client cannot legally receive specialized services from an unregistered provider after the 2021 reform without incurring joint liability for all LFT, IMSS, INFONAVIT, and tax obligations of the provider's workers.

Worker Information Sharing — Quarterly STPS Reporting: Under LFT Article 15-D, both client and provider must file quarterly reports with the STPS identifying each active specialized service contract, the number of workers involved, the services covered, and the payments made. The Acuerdo must designate the party responsible for filing, the quarterly reporting deadline (within 30 days after each calendar quarter end), and the mechanism for the client to verify that filings have been made. Non-compliance with quarterly reporting is sanctioned under LFT Article 994 with fines of 2,000 to 50,000 times the daily UMA (Unidad de Medida y Actualización) value — among the highest LFT fines.

IMSS, INFONAVIT, and SAT Compliance Documentation: Monthly obligations on the provider to supply the client with: (a) CFDI (Comprobante Fiscal Digital por Internet) for the services rendered in each month; (b) a copy of the IMSS SUA (Sistema Único de Autodeterminación) bimonthly quota payment receipt for the workers assigned to the client; (c) INFONAVIT contribution payment proof; and (d) ISR withholding compliance certification. The client's right to audit these documents — and to suspend payments or terminate the agreement if compliance documentation is not delivered within a specified time — must be explicit.

Joint Liability Management and Indemnification: Under LFT Article 15-C, the client company is jointly liable for all LFT, IMSS, and INFONAVIT obligations of the provider with respect to workers assigned to the client's services. The Acuerdo must include: (a) the provider's representation and warranty of full LFT, IMSS, INFONAVIT, ISR, and IVA compliance; (b) an indemnification clause requiring the provider to hold the client harmless and reimburse all costs, fines, and worker claims arising from provider non-compliance; and (c) a compliance bond or escrow mechanism (fianza de cumplimiento) where the value of the contract justifies it.

IVA and ISR Deductibility Conditions: Under the reformed LIVA Article 1-A-bis and LISR Article 27, the client's ability to credit input IVA on specialized service payments and deduct those payments as business expenses is conditioned on the provider's REPSE registration and tax compliance. The agreement should include representations by the provider that all service CFDIs will be issued with the correct RFC, fiscal regime, and use classification — and that the provider is current on all SAT obligations confirmed by positive opinión de cumplimiento favorable del SAT under CFF Article 32-D at the time of each invoice.

Data Protection for Worker Information: An integrated aviso de privacidad under Ley Federal de Protección de Datos Personales en Posesión de los Particulares (LFPDPPP) Articles 15–17 covering the transfer of worker personal data (names, RFCs, CURPs, NSSs) between client and provider for STPS quarterly reporting, IMSS and INFONAVIT compliance verification, and SAT audit purposes — identifying both parties as responsables for their respective data processing activities and documenting INAI (Instituto Nacional de Transparencia, Acceso a la Información y Protección de Datos Personales) ARCO rights.

Forms-legal.com provides this Specialized Services Subcontracting Agreement Mexico template as a practical starting point for post-2021 reform compliance. Given the complexity of REPSE verification, quarterly STPS reporting, and joint liability management, every specialized service arrangement in Mexico should be reviewed by a Licenciado en Derecho with expertise in derecho laboral and derecho fiscal before execution.