The Complemento Carta Porte is a mandatory digital attachment to Mexico’s electronic tax receipt (CFDI) whenever goods move across federal roads, railways, airways, or waterways inside Mexican territory. It records what is being moved, who is moving it, in what vehicle, and along which route, and it must be stamped by SAT before the cargo departs. The current version is 3.1, in effect since July 17, 2024.1Servicio de Administración Tributaria. Complemento Carta Porte
Who Has to Issue It
Your role in the shipment determines which CFDI type carries the complement.
- Paid carriers issue a revenue CFDI (CFDI de Ingreso) with the Carta Porte complement. This covers any company or individual providing paid transport of general or specialized cargo, across road, rail, maritime, and air.2Servicio de Administración Tributaria. Preguntas Frecuentes Autotransporte
- Owners or legal possessors moving their own goods, using their own vehicles or a private carrier they hired, issue a transfer CFDI (CFDI de Traslado) with the complement instead.2Servicio de Administración Tributaria. Preguntas Frecuentes Autotransporte
- Freight brokers and logistics coordinators arranging transport on behalf of others must also comply.
Foreign trade is inside the framework, not outside it. Imports and exports transiting through Mexican territory are covered, and U.S. companies using door-to-door shipping should understand that their Mexican carriers, freight forwarders, and goods owners each have their own compliance obligation.3International Trade Administration. Mexico New Invoicing Requirements and Obligations (Carta Porte) A foreign carrier crossing the U.S.-Mexico border that has a permanent establishment in Mexico must create a Carta Porte and share the fiscal folio (UUID) for the DODA. A foreign carrier without a permanent establishment in Mexico is not required to issue one for international service legs.
When It Is Required
The trigger is the type of road, not the length of the trip. Any movement along federal highways requires the complement. Ground movements that stay entirely on local or municipal roads, or that use federal highways for less than roughly 30 kilometers, fall outside it. That functions as a short first-mile or last-mile allowance for urban deliveries.
Empty Vehicles
Empty trucks do not always need a Carta Porte. A non-revenue empty return after delivering a load, and an empty movement of shipping containers or dunnage, are outside the requirement. Two situations pull empties back in: revenue empties, where the carrier is being paid specifically to reposition the equipment, and empty containers or tanks that previously held hazardous materials and may still contain residue. The hazardous-residue case carries the same extra fields described below.
What You Have to Include
Every item in the shipment needs a product and service code from SAT’s standardized catalog (c_ClaveProdServCP), along with weight in kilograms and piece count. You enter the precise origin and destination coordinates and the total route distance in kilometers. These fields have to match physical reality; a gap between the declared route and where an inspection actually finds the truck is an obvious problem.
Vehicle and Equipment
You enter license plate numbers for the tractor unit and every trailer. You also select the federal transport permit type issued by the Secretaría de Infraestructura, Comunicaciones y Transportes (SICT) from a SAT catalog code rather than typing it freehand.
Insurance
Three insurance categories can appear, depending on the shipment. Civil liability insurance (insurer name and policy number) is standard for carriers on federal highways. Environmental damage insurance applies when the cargo or vehicle poses environmental risk. Freight transportation insurance covers the value of the goods themselves. Each field asks for the insurance company name and the policy number.
Driver
Every Carta Porte identifies the driver by full name, RFC (federal taxpayer identification number), and a valid driver’s license number matching the vehicle class being operated. Wherever SAT provides a pre-populated catalog for a field, selecting from it avoids validation errors on submission.
Hazardous Materials
Hazmat shipments require additional fields on top of the standard cargo data. Include the UN identification number for the substance, drawn from internationally standardized hazmat classifications. Select the packaging code (Tipo Embalaje) from SAT’s c_TipoEmbalaje catalog. Provide emergency contact information for the shipper. If an empty container previously held hazardous materials, these same fields apply to the return movement, because residue in the tank or container still poses safety and environmental risk.
What You Need Before You Can Issue One
Two digital credentials are prerequisites. Article 29 of the Código Fiscal de la Federación requires every taxpayer issuing CFDIs to hold a valid e.firma (advanced electronic signature), which acts as your secure digital identity. You also need a Certificado de Sello Digital (CSD), the file that signs each CFDI and prevents tampering after issuance. The CSD is tied to your RFC and has to be current; an expired certificate blocks all CFDI generation.4Servicio de Administración Tributaria. Código Fiscal de la Federación – Artículo 29
Then you choose a platform. SAT offers a free portal that works for low-volume operations. Most businesses with regular shipping activity use a Proveedor Autorizado de Certificación (PAC), a third-party service authorized by SAT to validate and stamp CFDIs in real time. Whichever you use, confirm the software supports the current Carta Porte version (3.1) and that your certificates have not expired.
How to Issue and Validate the Document
Once credentials are active and data is collected, issuance is straightforward:
- Log in to SAT’s portal or your PAC software using your e.firma or CSD credentials.
- Select the CFDI type: Ingreso if you are a paid carrier, Traslado if you are moving your own goods.
- Populate the Carta Porte fields with cargo, route, vehicle, driver, and insurance data. Use SAT catalog codes wherever prompted.
- Submit for stamping. The system verifies the data with SAT’s servers and returns a digitally stamped CFDI.
- Download both files: an XML file (the legal tax record) and a PDF with a QR code (the human-readable copy the driver carries).
Cargo cannot legally begin moving until the stamped CFDI with its Carta Porte complement exists in SAT’s system. Drivers carry the PDF or a digital copy on a mobile device for the whole trip. At inspections, authorities scan the QR code to pull the record and compare it against what is physically in the vehicle.
Who Can Ask to See It
Only certain federal authorities are authorized to request the Carta Porte during a roadside stop: SAT, the Guardia Nacional, the SICT, and federal health authorities. State police, municipal police, and local government officials are not authorized to verify or request this document. Drivers who encounter unauthorized requests from local officers are not legally obligated to produce it for them.
Penalties for Non-Compliance
Under Article 84 of the Código Fiscal de la Federación, issuing a CFDI without the required complement carries a fine of $450 to $670 pesos per document.5Justia Mexico. Código Fiscal de la Federación Titulo Cuarto Capitulo I – Artículos 70 al 91-D That adds up quickly for carriers issuing dozens of CFDIs a day. Beyond the fine, authorities can impound shipments that lack proper documentation and shut down the offending Mexican business for three to fifteen business days.3International Trade Administration. Mexico New Invoicing Requirements and Obligations (Carta Porte) A temporary closure during peak shipping season can cost far more than the fine.
Correcting or Canceling a Stamped Carta Porte
Mistakes happen, and SAT provides a cancellation process for stamped CFDIs. When canceling a Carta Porte CFDI, select one of four reason codes: “01” for errors where you will issue a replacement CFDI linked to the original, “02” for errors where no replacement linkage is needed, “03” when the transport operation never took place, or “04” for nominative operations tied to a global invoice. Catch errors before the truck leaves and reissue immediately. Canceling after the goods are already in transit creates a gap where the shipment technically lacks valid documentation, so a review step before departure is worth the extra minutes.