I read a article that mentioned that the baja is now a duty free zone for personal items. My mailing service tells me they have to pay duty on
items because they are a business.
Competitiveness and Tariff Reduction Decree in Border Economic ...
en.presidencia.gob.mx/.../competitiveness-and-tariff-reduction-decre...23 Jan 2012 – Tijuana, Baja California, 20 January 2012. As part of his tour of
Baja California, the president inaugurated four road passes at the El Chaparral ..
The Baja duty-free zone is the first step in a plan to turn the peninsula into a Strategic Economic Zone, like those which have helped turn small
Chinese villages into prosperous industrial centers.
can people tell me if they have experienced this and is it all items or select items? Inquiring minds want to know the real world experience...
[Edited on 5-12-2012 by laventana]
[Edited on 5-12-2012 by laventana]Udo - 5-11-2012 at 05:44 PM
MY personal opinion:
You should pay duties on all new items brought to Baja. Used items brought down to use in your casita...are duty exempt.
Just an opinion I concluded while reading stuff here on Nomads for the last three years.
[Edited on 5-12-2012 by Udo]
[Edited on 5-12-2012 by Udo]
[Edited on 5-13-2012 by Udo]laventana - 5-11-2012 at 06:14 PM
Quote:
Originally posted by Udo MY personal opinion:
You should pay duties on all new items brought to Baja. Used items brought down to use in your casita...are duty exempt.
Just an opinion I concluded while reading stuff here on Namads for the last three years.
[Edited on 5-12-2012 by Udo]
[Edited on 5-12-2012 by Udo]
that too is what I have been doing for 13 lucky years, an average of 1.5 times
a year.... But the president of mexico per the links I mentioned said this is changing in his TJ visit January 23rd of this year.
SoHook - 5-11-2012 at 07:15 PM
Even if true, it'll probably take Aduana about nine months to get the word and another six to implement it with any consistency. woody with a view - 5-11-2012 at 10:15 PM
it is your duty to pay what is owed.DENNIS - 5-12-2012 at 05:51 AM
Quote:
Originally posted by laventana
that too is what I have been doing for 13 lucky years, an average of 1.5 times a year.... But the president of mexico per the links I mentioned
said this is changing in his TJ visit January 23rd of this year.
So
He said they were going to change the Immigration procedures last year too, but .....we're still waiting.
It's an election year in Mexico as well. People say things..........chuckie - 5-12-2012 at 06:34 AM
I think there has always been some kind of allowance for personal goods when you take up residence in Mexico. Its only fair that certain items carry
an import duty. No big deal, its usually pretty fair.gnukid - 5-12-2012 at 06:57 AM
In any case, each person is allowed items duty free, those are typical items one would have, like, computer, dvds, phone, bike, camping gear, tools,
clothes, car, sports gear, the limit changes with the size of your family. Only you would know your limit, only you can make your declaration, the
aduana can only verify your statement.oxxo - 5-12-2012 at 07:19 AM
A couple of weeks ago, I brought in some new furniture items through Otay Mesa via a Mexican shipping company. There was an 11% duty on everything
including the California sales tax.chuckie - 5-12-2012 at 08:14 AM
That sounds about right..I think thats what the book says....BajaBlanca - 5-12-2012 at 09:19 AM
it has varied so many times with us ... sometimes we get taxed ...sometimes they just look at everything, come up with a seemingly random amount to be
paid and sometimes wave us through without paying anything.
we have decided to always go thru the declarations lane now, since they seem tp pull over every single pickup. I walk up to the table to call someone
over instead of waiting by the vehicle ..which can take forever and gets frustrating.but, inquisitve minds would indeed like to know what the new law
says .. and when it really trickles down to the agents who make it matter.laventana - 5-12-2012 at 09:28 AM
I use a mail box company down here and as I noted in my first post, they say the new exemption does not allow business to bring anything into Mexico
without paying duty. so my understanding is anything relating to businesses will continue to pay duty. So if you use a shipping company you must
pay duty.
I am hoping that per the links I posted as of the end of January that this announcement will be accurate as someone points out maybe a lag.
they already treat baja differently, a Mexican friend just moved back from this area three weeks ago from southern baja to mainland and he had to have
every single receipt to prove he purchased every major item here in baja from a legitimate store or they were going to duty it at Pichilingue. I
find this curious if you are required to pay duty still.Bajatripper - 5-13-2012 at 08:40 AM
Quote:
Originally posted by chuckie
I think there has always been some kind of allowance for personal goods when you take up residence in Mexico. Its only fair that certain items carry
an import duty. No big deal, its usually pretty fair.
Fair if you consider 40% of the value as "fair," which is what I paid for having something shipped down here.Bajatripper - 5-13-2012 at 09:03 AM
Quote:
Originally posted by laventana
they already treat baja differently,
For what it's worth:
Starting in the 1930s then-Mexican President Abelardo Rodriguez came up with a "duty free" zone that encompassed both borders of Mexico as well as the
entire Baja California peninsula. The idea was to give Mexicans a reason to populate the border zones so as to prevent another "Texas" land grab (the
previous idea of populating the border with immigrants from a neighboring country turned out not to be such a good one). The Baja California peninsula
was included in the original duty-free exemption since access to the mainland could be controlled by customs officials at the ports (to a degree,
smuggling has ALWAYS been a profittable economic activity down in these parts) .
Although the new regs didn't do much for La Paz initially, once ferry service was established with the mainland in around 1964 the city entered what
has been considered the golden age of commerce for locals. Mexican petty entrepreneurs would take the ferry over, load up on small items (watches,
miniature electronics, perfumes, etc.) and return to the mainland to resell these items. To this day, many local business people look back to that era
with fondness.
Sometime in the 1980s this tax-exempt status was modified so that we no longer had this advantage over stores on the mainland and that "tourism" dried
up.
It sounds like the Mexican government is thinking--or at least talking--about revisiting that issue.
But we do still enjoy significant "import advantages" here on the peninsula and along the borders. For an example of this, visit one of our "segundas"
(second-hand stores) with a recent arrival from the mainland some time. They don't have such stores with this type of merchanidize in the rest of
Mexico, so recent arrivals tend to be surprised on their first few visits to one. Used clothes--which are illegal to import, are a booming business
down these parts. Then there's the special "Fronteriza" (borderzone) vehicle import program that we benefit from since it makes used cars from the US
cheap. Such cars are taxed at a prohibitive rate in the rest of Mexico.
Then, there's the IVA differentiation. In the rest of Mexico they pay 16% IVA on most purchases, here in Baja and the border zones it's only 11%.
