New Room Tax ??

[DandyDon]

I wonder if the hotels are honoring the over 60 exception when requested, and do guests know to ask? On my visit last February, the hotel tried to collect from me until I showed the exemptions I saved from this thread - then they took my word for it.

 

[Divegoose]

I asked when I was checking out from the resort last weekend. Still charged me the "sanitation tax" for the room. Split with my roommate, it only cost me $7.00. Small price to pay if the tax is actually used to help deal with the sanitation issues.

Divegoose

 

[DandyDon]

Small price to pay if the tax is actually used to help deal with the sanitation issues.

Well, that's a big IF.

Hotel taxes are decided by locals as a way to gouge more from visitors, and the regular taxes quoted when I go to book looks like 19%. That strikes me as a large tax rate, even tho not uncommon elsewhere, but based on the cheap hotel I enjoy - adding another 3¾% on top is just insult to injury to me, so I want to avoid as much as I can. Having those exceptions copied to at note on my phone worked for me.

 

[Ryan Neely]

It's not just Cozumel. I run a resort in Minnesota and we have all kinds of taxes. State sales tax, county sales tax, city sales tax, "lodging" tax (transient occupancy tax). We just had to begin charging a "transit tax" (so the state can improve infrastructure to bridges and roadways). Each of these are calculated on a percentage basis, so a $3,000 weekly cabin rental can really start to add up with all the add-ons.

Yeah ... I'm sure all the AirBnB and VRBO owners are lining up to pay their (new) tax bills....

This, right here, is exactly on point. Many of my colleagues have been lobbying legislatures in an attempt to get AirBnB and VRBO users are held to the same standards (that includes collecting and paying taxes, as well as being regulated by the health department and environmental services.

While that might be a gripe from within the industry, AirBnB and VRBO can be a less expensive way to go if you can find a user who is interested in "cutting corners."

 

[deepsea21]

So the standard 19% room tax wasn't enough and now they sneak in an additional small but still there "environmental" tax? Well, I guess an "Environmental tax" has a nice ring to it. Heck, that's a tax most could understand paying. Just one problem, it's just another tax and not 1 cent of that tax will be used for environmental preservation purposes. We all know this and everyone should know this. Decades ago the powers be in Mexico promised how all the port charges and business generated by a blooming cruise ship industry were going to benefit Cozumel... New schools, new roads, new infrastructure, expanded public water and sewer, more new low income housing. Blah Blah Blah. Some old timer locals have told me none of what was promised every came true and they regret allowing the cruse ship expansion to take place. The only thing that improved was their grand kid's internet and wireless phone access. Other than that, all the real estate (and most of the businesses) within the "tourist zone" where 99% of the cruise ship passengers $ are owned by international corporations and wealthy mainland interests. The cruise ships came and the big money international & mainland business interests as well as the Mexican government turned on their $ vacuums and it has all been sucked away.

OH, they did rebuild the park in the center of San Miguel with a new dancing fountain but even that reportedly had corruption behind it... Why did it take SO LONG to complete that renovation? A local told me that all those businesses in the square were on long term leases under the wealthy land owners and landlords that own all that property... They couldn't get them out so they decided to starve them out with a length of construction on the square that would kill them all. You all remember how long that construction was going on with plywood walls set up everywhere that drove every tourist away. Most all of those businesses were run into the ground over that construction period, defaulted on their lease obligations as they had no income and are now gone. Upon completion of the square all that retail space could be re-leased to new tenants at much higher rates. It is corruption on display at its finest that is very savvy at hiding behind the guise of "public improvements" as promised.

 

[DandyDon]

'Absolute power corrupts absolutely' - the meaning and origin of this phrase, Lord Acton.

 

[El Graduado]

OH, they did rebuild the park in the center of San Miguel with a new dancing fountain but even that reportedly had corruption behind it... Why did it take SO LONG to complete that renovation? A local told me that all those businesses in the square were on long term leases under the wealthy land owners and landlords that own all that property... They couldn't get them out so they decided to starve them out with a length of construction on the square that would kill them all. You all remember how long that construction was going on with plywood walls set up everywhere that drove every tourist away. Most all of those businesses were run into the ground over that construction period, defaulted on their lease obligations as they had no income and are now gone. Upon completion of the square all that retail space could be re-leased to new tenants at much higher rates. It is corruption on display at its finest that is very savvy at hiding behind the guise of "public improvements" as promised.

The above statement is incorrect.

The reason the local government replaced the plaza was that the Mexican Federal Government had monies available at the time for "shovel ready" municipal projects to renovate municipal parks. The Cozumel municipal government is always looking to undertake these types of projects funded by "free federal money" as a way to claw back some of the monies it remits to the Federal Government (like the cruise ship pier fees, the national reef park fees, etc.). The thinking is, "when the Fed offers up funds, don't think twice, grab it and spend it before they decide not to give it". Some of the Federal monies went to the Cozumel's Association of Architect's, which did the architectural design of the plaza. Some of the Federal monies went to a consortium of local construction companies that did the work. Some of the monies went to a local cement company to furnish the cement. The labor was local, and some of the monies went to that. The entire budget, if I remember correctly, was around 94 million pesos, most of which went straight back into the local economy.

The length of time it took to finish was a function of how long things tend to get done in Mexico, not some nefarious collusion on the part of some evil landlords. Most (if not all) of the business that were around the plaza prior to the renovation are still there. I can't think of a single one that closed or lost their lease. Can your local friend name some that lost their lease and closed? Any in the Plaza Del Sol building don't count, because that is a municipal building with spaces leased out by the city and not "wealthy landowners and landlords". Those small operations in the Plaza del Sol tend to come and go, but even so, I don't think any closed there either.

 

[Christi]

So the standard 19% room tax wasn't enough and now they sneak in an additional small but still there "environmental" tax?

Graduado did a great job of responding to the rest of your post but I wanted to clarify that the 19% is NOT a room tax

16% IVA (federal sales tax)
3% city tax for lodging

you will pay 19% on lodging anywhere you go in Mexico

You will pay 16% sales tax on almost everything, whether you know it or not. 16% comes off the top of any honest businesses sales for the government whether they are building it into the price or showing it as a separate line item - it's outrageous sales tax, but it is what it is - we have extremely low property taxes in Mexico - the Government in any municipality or country is going to get their money

 

[scubatree]

Kind of funny to me the complaints about a few pesos charged by taxis and hotels in Mexico. Man, I wonder if any of those same people ever travel in the US. Just check out the "resort fees" that have been added to hotels, casinos and resorts in the Vegas and throughout the US in the last few years. We even got hit with the daily "resort fees" at our hotel in Key West last October. BTW, last time we took a taxi at DFW from terminal D to the Hyatt which is less than a mile away, it was around $50, and I don't mean pesos. I still find the prices and associated fees in Cozumel very reasonable compared to other places, which is why we have been coming here regularly for nearly 40 years. I found this little "increase" just yesterday while checking out our favorite casino that we go to, Margaritaville in Bossier City, La "Beginning April 1, 2019, an amenity fee of $9.99/per day for each cash reservation will be charged. Amenities include basic Pool Access, Pool Towel Usage, Fitness Center Access, In-room Bottled Water and snacks, In-Room Coffee, and Turn-down Service upon request. May be paid for with cash or credit card."


Las Vegas Resort Fees 2019 Guide

 

[DandyDon]

I detest hotel resort fees most of all as they are a dishonest way to just charge more for a room-night but line up cheaper on booking site searches. The site may receive less in commissions, too; I don't know.

This new $1.50 or so room tax is more of an insult than a value. It's simply a small increase on already outrageous tax rates that will go to a general fund yet not used for the Ecological needs claimed. As high as taxes are there, the streets & utilities should be great, but it seems much is lost to corruption as usual, or so goes my guess.

BTW, last time we took a taxi at DFW from terminal D to the Hyatt which is less than a mile away, it was around $50, and I don't mean pesos.

I find that difficult to believe. Their site quotes "$37.00 - Flat rate for each trip either originating at DFW Airport and terminating at a location within the Dallas Market Center area or originating at a location within the Dallas Market Center area and terminating at the airport" for comparison.