BajaNomad - Last day to pay property tax with extra 5% discount plus 30% before Jan 1

Last day to pay property tax with extra 5% discount plus 30% before Jan 1

gnukid - 11-30-2009 at 08:42 AM

Last day to pay property tax with extra 5% discount plus 30% before Jan 1

In BCS

Santiago - 11-30-2009 at 09:17 AM

GN: Who do you pay the tax to? State or municipality?
thanks

fender - 11-30-2009 at 09:29 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by gnukid

In BCS

In LaPaz municipality! (eg. different discounts for Cabo muicipality)

gnukid - 11-30-2009 at 09:32 AM

Who knows... it's called Catastro? Everyone is assessed to pay based on the registro of the value of your home which is either the declared valuation during sale or declared cost to build if you built it. I think seniors either pay less or not at all, also I understand many do not pay at all if they live to far and didn't register their home or becuase feel no association to services.

From my conversations at the Catastro with my neighbors and friends that day, it seems most pay about $200-600mn which I think reflects 35% off from the actual bill or 300-1000mn, so with rough math I estimate the homes are valued from 50,000-1,000,000 pesos typically resulting in 50-1,000mn bills for most which works out to .01% tax I think?

What's interesting is the catastro offers discounts to pay future and old bills at certain times like right now in order to provide incentives to both deliquents and early payers. Seems to work wonders.

DianaT - 11-30-2009 at 11:26 AM

In our area, last month we were finally able to pay our property taxes for this year----they did not have the paperwork from Santa Rosalia before then---no penalties.

For next year, we will start trying to pay in January and who knows when they will be ready----fortunately, they are really cheap out there.

Last month we heard that there was talk of splitting the Mulege Muncipality---that would be interesting and we wonder how that might change things.

k-rico - 11-30-2009 at 11:36 AM

Cheap down there. My property tax last year was 0.086 percent and it has gone up significantly each year. I think the way it works in TJ is that the earliest you can pay is 1 Jan and it gets more expensive every month you delay, but I'm not sure. I pay in January.

[Edited on 11-30-2009 by k-rico]

DianaT - 11-30-2009 at 11:45 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by k-rico
Cheap down there. My property tax last year was 0.086 percent and it has gone up significantly each year. I think the way it works in TJ is that the earliest you can pay is 1 Jan and it gets more expensive every month you delay, but I'm not sure. I pay in January.

[Edited on 11-30-2009 by k-rico]

They just laugh at us when we try to pay in January. This year we paid 218 pesos. Probably will change just as so much is changing around those parts.

Von - 11-30-2009 at 11:49 AM

What happens if you havent paid in 4yrs? Will you get a discount on all the fines if you pay them next week?

Santiago - 11-30-2009 at 01:30 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by gnukid
I understand many do not pay at all if they live to far and didn't register their home or becuase feel no association to services.

What's interesting is the catastro offers discounts to pay future and old bills at certain times like right now in order to provide incentives to both deliquents and early payers. Seems to work wonders.

GK: 2 things jump out at me from your post:
1) do municipalities have the right to file a tax lien (or whatever it is in Mexico) and just choose not to for remote homes? I suspect that having a lien sale would be politically un-doable. And why would registration of the home have anything to do with it - isn't the bare land subject to property taxes also? Or is only improved land taxed?
2) If the municipalities routinely offer discounts for past-due taxes, wouldn't everyone not pay on the due date and just wait for the discount period?

Tax

tehag - 11-30-2009 at 01:36 PM

In Loreto last year they implemented a computer system for calculating property taxes. From aerial photos, geometric shapes are drawn to reflect construction. These shapes then are used as a basis for calculating square meters of improvement and thus the taxes. Even after I successfully argued that the circle in front of the house is a tree and not a building, the new tax was just under 1000% of what it's been for over 20 years. In the crazily Gerimandered "Zona Turismo" one pays a higher rate than folks half a block away. Still pretty cheap by US standards. Taxes here are paid to the Loreto municipality at the treasurer's office in the municipal palace.

Santiago - 11-30-2009 at 01:38 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by DianaT
Last month we heard that there was talk of splitting the Mulege Muncipality---that would be interesting and we wonder how that might change things.

In my just started research, I have seen this mentioned. The line would be north/south and split the muni into a Pacific side and SOC side. I suppose the muni seat would then be GN? Might be a rumor with legs.
Interesting factoid regarding municipalities:
there are about 2000 of them in Mexico and the 2 largest in area are in Baja: Ensenada is the largest and Mulege is the next largest.

Santiago - 11-30-2009 at 01:52 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by tehag
In Loreto last year they implemented a computer system for calculating property taxes. From aerial photos, geometric shapes are drawn to reflect construction. These shapes then are used as a basis for calculating square meters of improvement and thus the taxes. Even after I successfully argued that the circle in front of the house is a tree and not a building, the new tax was just under 1000% of what it's been for over 20 years. In the crazily Gerimandered "Zona Turismo" one pays a higher rate than folks half a block away. Still pretty cheap by US standards. Taxes here are paid to the Loreto municipality at the treasurer's office in the municipal palace.

How is bare land taxed, if it is?
And if you know, does the phrase "City Limits" have any meaning in Mexico? Take for example the municipality just to the north of you, Mulege. There are a number of communities of over a 1000 people in this municipality: Mulege, Santa Rosalia (the seat), Vizcaino, Guerrero Negro, Tortugas, Asuncion, La Bocana/Abreojos. Can these individual communities make there own rules/regs or does everything flow from 1 governing body?
Thanks

DianaT - 11-30-2009 at 01:53 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Santiago

Quote:

Originally posted by DianaT
Last month we heard that there was talk of splitting the Mulege Muncipality---that would be interesting and we wonder how that might change things.

We heard the division would be a little different than that--but close---would love to know where you found this?

Also, last we heard was that there was competition between Vizcaino and GN as being the seat. In many ways, Vizcaino would make more sense as it is more central and really a supply station for the entire area, but we think the Gov. likes the idea of GN----all rumor, but as you say, it may have legs---depending on how many votes it will gather.

Again, a part of the rumor is that it is being considered as a political move---gosh, what is not political----because in the north area of the Mulege District many feel too much of the tax money goes to the Southern part of the District.

Sorry for the hijack----but I would be real interested in the sites you have found---to not hijack further, maybe a U2U. Thanks

Back to taxes. Many, many people in our town have not paid property taxes for years and years----many have not even paid for their lots yet. When we paid the taxes due for the last couple of years for a larger piece of property owned by a Baja Nomad Land Baron, :biggrin:

, the town was most pleased.

DianaT - 11-30-2009 at 02:00 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Santiago

How is bare land taxed, if it is?
And if you know, does the phrase "City Limits" have any meaning in Mexico? Take for example the municipality just to the north of you, Mulege. There are a number of communities of over a 1000 people in this municipality: Mulege, Santa Rosalia (the seat), Vizcaino, Guerrero Negro, Tortugas, Asuncion, La Bocana/Abreojos. Can these individual communities make there own rules/regs or does everything flow from 1 governing body?
Thanks

Very interesting question and hope to hear the answer. But just one thing more

Below the Municipalities are the Delegacions and then sub-Delegacions (sp). For instance, Bahia Asuncion is the Delegacion and La Bocana, Tortugas, Abreojos and more are sub-Delegacions-----

One time FDT was kind enough to send me a lot of information about the structure of the Mexican government and divisions. Maybe he will read this and post the information.

Santiago - 11-30-2009 at 02:08 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by DianaT

Sorry for the hijack----but I would be real interested in the sites you have found---to not hijack further, maybe a U2U. Thanks

FWIW: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muleg%C3%A9_(municipality)

k-rico - 11-30-2009 at 02:15 PM

Hmmm,

Looks like in TJ you can pay property taxes online.

http://www.tijuana.gob.mx/GobiernoDigital/index.asp

Do I dare??

comitan - 11-30-2009 at 02:35 PM

I should have taken a picture, La Paz was not the place to pay taxes on the last day. The Government was very considerate tho they set up huge canopy's with chairs to wait your turn outside before the lines.

oxxo - 11-30-2009 at 05:27 PM

Went over to San Jose del Cabo today to pay the taxes on my Los Cabos property and get that 35% discount. No can do. They will not accept tax money until the first working day in January and the discount is 15%.

When I asked them about the La Paz discounts, they said that only applies to La Paz properties that must be paid in La Paz. They said that La Paz can give those big discounts because they have a higher tax rate than a comparable property in Los Cabos. Go figure.

k-rico - 11-30-2009 at 05:30 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Santiago

Quote:

The land my house is built upon was bare land. The previous landowner did not pay taxes and the property was confiscated by the government. It was subsequently auctioned off and the developer that built the development had the winning bid. That's the story my attorney told me when I asked him to look into the history of the property before I bought. The developer's representative independently told me the same story.