Mexico’s electronic value declaration (MVE) 2026: the plain-English guide

⚠️ Deadline: August 1, 2026. From that day on, the value declaration can ONLY be filed electronically through Mexico’s trade single window (form E2). Paper is accepted through July 31, 2026 — and not a day longer. If you import under the definitive regime, this applies to you.

What is it, in plain words?

When you import, you pay taxes on the customs value of your goods. The value declaration (manifestación de valor, or MVE) is the document where you explain to the tax authority (SAT), under penalty of perjury, how you built that value: what you paid for the goods and which costs get added on top (freight, insurance, and so on).

Think of it as the itemized receipt for your import: if the authority ever asks “why did you declare this value?”, this document — with its backup paperwork — is your answer.

Diagram: international freight, insurance and other dutiable additions are added to the price paid for the goods to arrive at the customs value. — How the customs value comes together. The **additions** are the piece everyone forgets — and the one that causes the most trouble in an audit.

Important: this is the importer’s obligation, not your customs broker’s. Your broker will help you put it together, but the legal responsibility sits with you.

What changed? (and why everyone is talking about it)

Timeline: paper filings accepted through July 31, 2026; from August 1, 2026, electronic transmission through the trade single window only. — The date that matters: on August 1, 2026, paper stops being an option.

Before	Now (MVE)
Paper/PDF document	Electronic, transmitted through the trade single window
Totals only	Detail per invoice (COVE)
Costs lumped together	Every addition itemized according to your Incoterm
No mandatory attachments	With backup docs: proof of payment, invoice, contracts
—	Applies to definitive imports only

Checklist: what you need on hand

Commercial invoice(s) and their COVE (the invoice’s electronic filing)
Price paid or payable, and how you paid it (wire transfer or letter of credit)
The shipment’s Incoterm (it defines which costs are on your side)
Additions, itemized: international freight, insurance, commissions (except buying commissions), royalties, packaging
If you buy from a related party: disclose it and assess whether it influenced the price
A valid e.firma (Mexico’s e-signature) and access to the trade single window (ventanillaunica.gob.mx) — since May 2026 it operates as VUTCE, run by the digital agency (ATDT) instead of the SAT

Step by step, with the portal’s actual screens

The screenshots in this section come from the official VUCEM user manual (“Manifestación de valor portal VUCEM — Registro MV”): these are the exact screens you’ll see. The portal runs in Spanish — each caption tells you what you’re looking at. With the file ready, the full filing takes 20 to 40 minutes.

1 · Before you log in: build the file

Gather: invoice(s) and their COVE folios, proof of payment, contract, freight and insurance receipts — scanned as PDF, grayscale, 300 DPI, 3 MB max per file (that’s what the portal requires).
Sort the costs: whatever is on your side of the deal and not on the invoice is a dutiable addition (your Incoterm is the tell).
Have the COVE folios at hand: the system asks for them one by one, and the session expires after 30 minutes of inactivity.

2 · Log in to the single window with your e.firma

At ventanillaunica.gob.mx, open the Ventanilla Única menu and pick Ingreso Solicitante (“applicant login”), then sign in with your e.firma.

Login screen of Mexico’s foreign-trade single window: FIEL authentication selected, with fields for the .cer certificate, .key private key and password. — Have your **certificate (.cer)**, your **private key (.key)** and your e.firma password ready. If you file as an individual, the declaration’s RFC must be **the same** as the e.firma you logged in with.

3 · Find the filing

Inside the portal: Trámites → Solicitudes nuevas (“Filings → New requests”).

VUCEM top menu with the Trámites section open and the Solicitudes nuevas option highlighted. — The **Trámites → Solicitudes nuevas** menu.

Choose the Hacienda agency (Mexico’s treasury) and, under the AGA block, open Manifestación de valor → Registro (“Value declaration → Register”).

VUCEM available-filings screen listing government agencies; Hacienda is the one to select. — The MVE lives under the **Hacienda** agency.

AGA filing list with Manifestación de valor expanded, showing its Registro option. — At the bottom of the AGA list: **Manifestación de valor → Registro**.

4 · Portal step 1: fill out the request

The form is tabbed. Solicitante shows your own data, prefilled and read-only. In Datos manifestación, type the importer’s tax ID (RFC) and click Aceptar — the system fills in the company name.

Datos de la manifestación tab with the importer RFC field and the Aceptar button. — Type the RFC and hit **Aceptar**. Filing as an individual? It must match your session’s RFC.

In Información COVE, enter each invoice’s COVE folio and pick the valuation method — for most operations that’s transaction value (“valor de transacción”). Click Agregar for every invoice.

Información del COVE tab: field for the COVE folio and dropdown with the customs valuation methods. — One record **per COVE/invoice**, each with its valuation method.

Select the COVE and click Agregar MV to complete it: that’s where you declare the Incoterm, whether you and your supplier are related parties, and the money sections:

Dutiable additions section per article 65: concept, expense date, amount, currency, exchange rate and whether the importer bears it. — **Dutiable additions** (art. 65): freight, insurance, commissions, royalties… one by one, with date, amount and currency. If a cost is already inside the invoice price, do NOT duplicate it here.

Precio pagado section: date, amount, payment method, currency and exchange rate. — **Price paid**: how and when you paid (the payment method matters — wire, letter of credit…). Anything outstanding goes under **Precio por pagar** (price payable).

Close with the Valor en aduana tab: the totals (paid + payable + additions − deductions), declared in Mexican pesos. That total is the base for your import taxes.

Valor en aduana tab with the total amounts: price paid, payable, additions, deductions and grand total. — The end of the capture: **totals in MXN**. Check them against your file before continuing.

5 · Portal steps 2 and 3: requirements and attachments

When you hit Continuar, VUCEM validates and lists which documents are required or optional for what you captured (step 2). In step 3 you attach them: Adjuntar documentos → Examinar (“Attach → Browse”), and make sure every file shows OK (Correcto) status.

Step 3, attach documents: document-type table with Guardar and Adjuntar documentos buttons. — One PDF per document type. **The proof of payment is the one everyone forgets** — and it’s a required attachment.

6 · Portal step 4: sign and save your folio

Step 4, sign the request: .cer certificate, .key private key and password fields with the Firmar button. — You sign with the **same e.firma** you logged in with.

On signing, the portal issues two receipts (the Acuse and the Detalle of the value declaration) and assigns your declaration number (it starts with “MNVA…”). Download both right then.

VUCEM acknowledgment screen: message with the assigned declaration number and the downloadable receipts list. — That **declaration number is your folio**: it goes to your customs broker BEFORE clearance and gets declared on the customs entry.

7 · After transmitting

Hand the folio to your customs broker before clearance — no folio, no clearance.
File receipts and backup docs with the shipment’s paperwork: at least 5 years in your records. It’s the first thing an audit asks for.

The 5 mistakes we see most

Leaving it for clearance day — no transmitted MVE, no clearance. Your shipment stops.
Leaving out additions you paid separately from the invoice (freight is the classic one).
Not having the proof of payment on hand: it’s now a required attachment.
Ignoring the related-party question when you buy from your parent or sister company.
Assuming “the broker takes care of that”: your broker assists; the obligation is yours.

Quick questions

Does it apply to my temporary imports (IMMEX)? The MVE is for the definitive import regime; if you run mixed regimes, confirm your case with your brokerage.

One MVE per customs entry (pedimento) or per invoice? The detail is built per invoice/COVE — a shipment with several invoices needs each one broken out.

Did the deadline sneak up on you? At FreightSpot we prepare and transmit value declarations every day. Write to us and we’ll have you ready for August 1 — no drama.