BajaNomad

New foreign tourist $350 pesos tax

mojo_norte - 11-4-2019 at 06:51 AM

https://www.thebajapost.com/2019/11/03/baja-california-sur-w...

norte - 11-4-2019 at 07:01 AM

Another thing for gringos to b-tch about even if it is only BCS

David K - 11-4-2019 at 07:09 AM

From that article:

Foreigners who fly into Baja California Sur will be able to pay the tax at Los Cabos or La Paz airports, while the state’s port authority will be responsible for collecting the tax from travelers who arrive by sea. Hotels and other accommodation providers will charge foreign visitors who enter via land.

David K - 11-4-2019 at 07:17 AM

Interesting that a state can discriminate people based on being a non-Mexican and not just a non-Baja California Sur resident. That would seem to be a national/ federal right, not a state's right? Maybe Baja California Sur wants to break away from Mexico? Some there want to change the name and get rid of the Baja part. That was the land known as 'California' first, after all. I think 'Sudcalifornia' (Southern California) was considered?

Bajaboy - 11-4-2019 at 09:01 AM

Quote: Originally posted by David K  
Interesting that a state can discriminate people based on being a non-Mexican and not just a non-Baja California Sur resident. That would seem to be a national/ federal right, not a state's right? Maybe Baja California Sur wants to break away from Mexico? Some there want to change the name and get rid of the Baja part. That was the land known as 'California' first, after all. I think 'Sudcalifornia' (Southern California) was considered?


That didn't take long....:no:

David K - 11-4-2019 at 09:12 AM

Can a single state of a republic of many states tax a foreign national simply because he is a foreigner?

What if each state in Mexico levied a tax on foreign tourists...? It might make traveling throughout Mexico less attractive and thus hurt the people doing business with foreigners.

I would bet the federal government of Mexico will have an issue with any of its states taxing foreigners as being outside of a state's rights?

PaulW - 11-4-2019 at 09:35 AM

Airport tax is not a general tax. Applies to airport users.

bajaguy - 11-4-2019 at 09:49 AM

It will be a miracle if this "tax" is used for it's intended purposes.. Unfortunately there will be no transparency as to the amount collected and where it is spent

The businesses and people of Sur will be the ones who will feel the effects.

Reminds me of the short lived tax the Municipality of Ensenada imposed on cruise ship passengers several years ago to improve the downtown "Tourist Area". Didn't work then, won't work now

AKgringo - 11-4-2019 at 09:52 AM

It is interesting that the Cabo, and La Paz airports were mentioned, but not Loreto! Alaska Airlines doesn't even fly to La Paz anymore, but they do to Loreto.

Step one; Establish a tax base and collection process.
Step two; Determine that it isn't enough money, and raise it.

[Edited on 11-4-2019 by AKgringo]

ncampion - 11-4-2019 at 10:13 AM

Quote: Originally posted by PaulW  
Airport tax is not a general tax. Applies to airport users.


That article is pretty general but it does say that Hotels will "be encouraged to collect the tax from visitors who arrive by land".

I wonder if this will apply to those of us who hold RP or RT since we are not considered "tourists" by residents.

Hook - 11-4-2019 at 10:35 AM

Well, one must assume that the collection of the fee by the hotels will involve checking some type of documentation that proves you are a tourist. So, having a valid FMM might become important. No worries on my end, contrary to what JJJ (and all his permutations) used to claim about me.

I can't imagine that they will be expecting the hotels to collect this and then turn the funds over to them. Mexico doesn't even directly allow agencies like Aduana and INM collect fees for them, much less a private industry. They have you directly deposit into their accounts at Banjercito. Yes, I realize that this is BCS, not the Federal govt.

The potential will be great for collecting it and not documenting the arriving foreigners. Or allowing the foreigner to pay a mordida that is less than 350 pesos.

If they are serious about this, they should just set up a kiosk/checkpoint at the BCS/BCN border for land travelers. Get everyone out of the buses, too, I guess. :no:

How ironic that the supposed goal of improving the plight of the poor would be done in this manner. Tourism is probably the biggest employer of persons in much of BCS. Tourists are already indirectly providing a large amount of the cash the poor receive in areas like La Paz and Cabo. If they are still hurting, it's probably because the wages are too low.

Another case where "trickle down" has proven to be fallacious.

What a slush fund this will be for bureaucrats to skim from and/or "mysteriously" disappear with. :rolleyes: BCS officials are famous for this.

[Edited on 11-4-2019 by Hook]

[Edited on 11-4-2019 by Hook]

[Edited on 11-4-2019 by Hook]

AKgringo - 11-4-2019 at 11:11 AM

Quote; "What a slush fund this will be for bureaucrats to skim from and/or "mysteriously" disappear with. BCS officials are famous for this."
--------------------------------------------------------------

It is not unique to Baja, Anchorage thinks that way too!

The bed tax, originally 5%, established to provide a fund to develop tourism, was raised to 8%, and then 12% as it was dipped into by other programs.

The renal car tax, originally 8% has jumped to 10%!

Still no state or municipal sales tax on other goods yet, but every now and then some one tries to initiate "Just a little tax", at least for a start!


[Edited on 11-4-2019 by AKgringo]

bajaric - 11-4-2019 at 11:42 AM

That is true about "tax creep". San Diego has a hotel room tax and someone is always trying to boost it for some pet project that usually involves politically connected developers. Same thing with sales tax, now up to 8 percent in California. Thank goodness this is a prop 13 state (Property tax frozen at 1 percent) passed back when California was actually a conservative state (CA gave the world Ronald Reagan, in case anyone has forgotten).

RnR - 11-4-2019 at 01:18 PM

I just looked up some stats for the Cabo airport - SJD

"The airport crossed the 5-million-traffic threshold in 2018, handling 5,249,000 passengers ...."

Wow !!! And what percentage of those arrivals are tourists?? 90+%?

I think that we found the reason for the tourist tax. SJD arrivals are a captive audience and will collections will be very easy.

The tax doesn't apply to cruise ship passengers as they do not stay in BCS for more than twenty four hours.

La Paz and Loreto airports must be a very small number of tourist arrivals in comparison to Cabo. The land crossing into BCS at Guerrero Negro is probably an even smaller percentage.

Go for the "low hanging fruit" first.




David K - 11-4-2019 at 01:28 PM

There are other places to cross into Baja Sur besides on Hwy. 1. They weren't mentioning charging on the highway but instead, make hotels collect the tax. So us campers get around this, it seems? The whole thing is a can of worms... and like other taxes, will do the opposite of what the politicians claim. It is a feel-good vote-getter to say let's tax the rich gringos (as if that helps any citizens)... only to realize it drives away the revenue stream they had enjoyed or depended on.

thebajarunner - 11-4-2019 at 03:01 PM

Is this on top of the buck or so that they soak us at GN for spraying cat urine on all of our tires???

Hook - 11-4-2019 at 05:12 PM

Quote: Originally posted by AKgringo  
Quote; "What a slush fund this will be for bureaucrats to skim from and/or "mysteriously" disappear with. BCS officials are famous for this."
--------------------------------------------------------------

It is not unique to Baja, Anchorage thinks that way too!

The bed tax, originally 5%, established to provide a fund to develop tourism, was raised to 8%, and then 12% as it was dipped into by other programs.

The renal car tax, originally 8% has jumped to 10%!

Still no state or municipal sales tax on other goods yet, but every now and then some one tries to initiate "Just a little tax", at least for a start!


[Edited on 11-4-2019 by AKgringo]


Of course THAT type of skimming is common, elsewhere.

The type I am talking about is when an official takes the money and runs.

Something like a dozen or more Mexican state officials are on the lam right now, accused of absconding with public monies.

karenintx - 11-4-2019 at 06:08 PM

It was August 2017 when the BCS Congress passed this law.  At that time they "thought" they could get the airlines to collect this additional tax for them but the airlines said "NO".   Seems it has taken the Congress two years to figure out a way to collect the tax. 

http://www.itravel-cabo.com/news/cabo-news/airlines-to-colle...

There has to be a reason why the airlines were able to say "no, we will not collect this tax."  Maybe the Mexican law only requires airlines to collect Federal Taxes...and not a State Taxes?

I am betting if the BCS is able to pull this off...other States in the country will pass the same law.  

Who says there are no fees and taxes now?

Howard - 11-4-2019 at 06:34 PM

Below you will find fees and taxes that are built into your airline ticket when flying from LAX to Loreto. These fees vary depending on the peso exchange rate but are usually around the same.

Taxes and fees
$119.75
Mexico airport dept. tax
$26.79
Mexico tourism tax
$28.81
US APHIS user fee
$3.96
US Customs user fee
$5.89
US Immigration user fee
$7.00
US int'l arrival tax
$18.60
US int'l departure tax
$18.60
US psgr. facility charge
$4.50
US Sept. 11 security fee
$5.60

AKgringo - 11-4-2019 at 07:05 PM

For what it is worth, I am seeing some surprisingly low fares to Loreto right now. As low as $358 one way....from Anchorage!

[Edited on 11-5-2019 by AKgringo]

BajaTed - 11-4-2019 at 07:58 PM

Add $250 in taxes & fees
see prior post

AKgringo - 11-4-2019 at 08:16 PM

Check it out for yourself.....Alaska Airlines Nov 18, flight 150 ANC to LAX, flight 268 from LAX to LTO

Base fare $289, taxes, fees and charges $60.51, total $349.51!

Edit; the fees include a tourist fee of about $28, presumably federal

[Edited on 11-5-2019 by AKgringo]

Hook - 11-6-2019 at 12:01 AM

Quote: Originally posted by David K  
There are other places to cross into Baja Sur besides on Hwy. 1. They weren't mentioning charging on the highway but instead, make hotels collect the tax. So us campers get around this, it seems? The whole thing is a can of worms... and like other taxes, will do the opposite of what the politicians claim. It is a feel-good vote-getter to say let's tax the rich gringos (as if that helps any citizens)... only to realize it drives away the revenue stream they had enjoyed or depended on.


This will probably come as a surprise to you, David, but the amount of foreigners that are camping outside of an accommodation (which will probably be expected to collect it, too) is probably too small for the state to care about.

I would be surprised if it was more than 1-2% of all foreign visitors.

David K - 11-6-2019 at 06:28 AM

You are probably right... Except in the winter when half of Canada moves to Concepción Bay!

PaulW - 11-7-2019 at 08:32 AM

https://www.latimes.com/travel/story/2019-11-06/los-cabos-me...

mtgoat666 - 11-8-2019 at 07:28 AM

Foreign tourists in Mexico are rich relative to Mexicans. This tax on the rich is great idea, it is a semi-progressive tax of the wealthy. I approve, and only request that they increase the tax rate :bounce:

Bajaboy - 11-8-2019 at 08:41 AM

Quote: Originally posted by mtgoat666  
Foreign tourists in Mexico are rich relative to Mexicans. This tax on the rich is great idea, it is a semi-progressive tax of the wealthy. I approve, and only request that they increase the tax rate :bounce:



I know plenty of wealthy Mexicans....