What Is REPSE?
A Guide for Foreign Companies Hiring in Mexico

What REPSE actually is

REPSE stands for Registro de Prestadores de Servicios Especializados u Obras Especializadas, the registry that Mexico's Secretaría del Trabajo y Previsión Social (STPS, the labor ministry) created after the 2021 subcontracting reform.

Before 2021, companies in Mexico could hire outsourced personnel through a third party that supplied workers without really directing their work. The reform banned that. What's still allowed, and now more tightly controlled, is contracting specialized services: work that isn't part of the contracting company's core business, delivered by a vendor with its own registered, authorized personnel.

REPSE is how the government tracks who's authorized to provide those specialized services, and for exactly what.

Who needs it

Any Mexican company that provides specialized services or specialized works to other businesses needs REPSE to legally invoice for that work. Common examples: industrial cleaning, private security, specialized IT services, and any function a company outsources because it's not part of its main line of business.

The registration is specific. A vendor declares exactly which services it's authorized to provide, and REPSE doesn't cover anything outside that scope.

Why it matters if you're a foreign company

If your Mexican vendor doesn't have a valid REPSE registration, or if the registration doesn't cover the exact service they're billing you for, the payments you make to them stop being deductible for income tax (ISR) purposes, and the VAT (IVA) they charge you isn't creditable. That risk sits with you, the company paying, not with the vendor.

Checking a vendor's REPSE status takes a few minutes on the public registry at repse.stps.gob.mx, no login required. Search by RFC (tax ID), registration folio, or company name. Confirm the status reads "vigente" (active) and that the authorized services match what you're actually contracting.

REPSE doesn't apply to payroll outsourcing

This is where a lot of foreign buyers get confused. If a vendor is simply calculating and processing your payroll while you remain the legal employer of your own staff, that's not a REPSE-covered service. It's an administrative function, not specialized labor supplied by the vendor's own personnel. REPSE applies when a vendor executes a specialized function with its own workforce, not when it operates a back-office process on your existing headcount.

The registration expires

REPSE registrations run for three years from authorization. If you're mid-contract with a vendor and their registration is about to lapse, that's worth flagging before it becomes your problem.

How ADN fits in

At ADN Services, we work with companies that already have their compliance in order and need it to stay that way: payroll processing, IMSS and INFONAVIT compliance, and the ongoing obligations that come after REPSE registration. Registering a company for REPSE isn't our core focus. Staying compliant once you're already operating is.

Let's talk about your operation in Mexico.

This article is for general informational purposes and doesn't constitute legal or tax advice. REPSE requirements and registration rules are set by Mexico's STPS and can change. For guidance on your specific situation, consult your advisor or the official registry.