If your vacation plans this summer include traveling outside of Mexico, keep in mind that not all items you buy during your stay abroad are exempt from paying taxes.
That’s right, the Tax Administration Service (SAT) may kindly ask you to pay taxes on certain products. But don’t worry, because the tax authority itself has a list of items that you can bring into Mexico without having to pay the treasury.
Luggage
According to the SAT, personal luggage that does not pay taxes consists of the following:
For personal use: clothing, footwear, and toiletries and beauty products, as long as they are appropriate for the duration of the trip, including a bridal trousseau; baby items, such as a chair, portable crib, stroller, walker, among others, including their accessories.
Two cameras or video cameras, photographic material; Three portable cellular telephone equipment or other wireless network equipment, as well as a global positioning system (GPS) device, an electronic diary, a portable computer equipment such as a laptop, notebook, omnibook or similar; a portable copier or printer; a burner and a portable projector, with their accessories.
Two personal sports equipment, four fishing rods, three gliders with or without sails and their accessories, trophies or awards, provided that they can be commonly and normally transported by the passenger.
One portable device for recording or reproducing sound or mixed sound; or two for recording or reproducing digital images and sound and a portable DVD player; a set of portable speakers, and their accessories.
Five laser discs, 10 DVD discs, 30 compact discs, three software packages and five storage devices for any electronic equipment.
Books, magazines and printed documents.
Five toys, including collectibles, and a video game console, as well as five video games.
A blood pressure measuring device and a glucose measuring device or a combination of these and their reagents, as well as personal medications (in the case of psychotropic substances, a medical prescription must be shown).
Suitcases, trunks, suitcases or any other item necessary for transporting luggage.
A binocular and a telescope.
Two musical instruments and their accessories.
A tent and other camping items.
A set of hand tools with its case, which may include a drill, pliers, keys, sockets, screwdrivers, power cables, among others.
Passengers over 18 years of age, a maximum of 10 packs of cigarettes, 25 cigars or 200 grams of tobacco; up to three liters of alcoholic beverages and six liters of wine.
Senior citizens and people with disabilities, items that due to their characteristics replace or reduce their limitations, such as walkers, wheelchairs, crutches, canes, among others.
What income does not pay taxes to the SAT in 2024
PERSONAL FINANCE
These are the incomes that do not pay taxes to the SAT in 2024
Franchise
The SAT allows you to bring with you merchandise worth 500 dollars without paying taxes, in addition to your personal luggage, if your entry is by sea or air, throughout the year. But, if your entry to Mexico is by land, you can enter only during the holiday season; since the rest of the year, the franchise is 300 dollars.
The franchise to which each member of the family is entitled can accumulate if they travel together in the same means of transport; except if you are a resident of the border strip or region.
You can demonstrate the value of the merchandise that is part of the franchise with invoices or sales receipts.
Be careful! Because if you do not have such receipts, customs personnel can determine the value of the merchandise.
You can transport, without paying taxes, up to 3 pets or companion animals that you bring with you, such as cats, dogs, canaries, hamsters, guinea pigs, budgies, cockatiels, ferrets, parakeets, turtles, small wild birds (except birds of prey), as well as the accessories required for their transport and grooming, provided that you present to the customs staff the zoosanitary certificate for their import, issued by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (Sader).
In the case of wild animals, it is also necessary to present the Verification Record issued by the Federal Attorney for Environmental Protection (Profepa), which verifies compliance with the non-tariff regulation or restriction to which they are subject.
Diplomats
Luggage belonging to diplomats, as well as their partners, parents and children who live in the same house is not subject to inspection by the customs authority: ambassadors, plenipotentiary ministers, chargés d’affaires, counselors, secretaries, attachés of foreign diplomatic or special missions, consuls, vice-consuls, foreign diplomatic agents and officials of international organizations accredited to the Government of Mexico.
Are you traveling with a pet?
If you wish to travel to Mexico with your pet (dogs or cats), it is necessary to contact the staff of the Sader Secretariat, who will issue you a zoosanitary certificate.
You must present a health certificate, in original and simple copy – more than one pet may be included in the same certificate – issued by an official or private veterinarian; in the latter case, it must be issued on letterhead, with the number or copy of the professional license printed and signature.
The health certificate must meet the following requirements:
Name and address of the exporter (person who has the pet abroad and the address of the country of origin or provenance) and importer (person who brings the pet into national territory and the destination address in Mexico).
Determine that the animal(s) have been vaccinated against rabies, and indicate the date of application of the vaccine and its validity. Animals under three months of age are exempt from this requirement.
Specify that, in the inspection prior to their trip, the animal(s) are clinically healthy.
Establish that the animal(s) have been subjected to a preventive treatment against internal and external parasites, within the previous six months, and are free of ectoparasites. (It is not required for pets whose country of origin and provenance is the United States of America or Canada).
Your pet must enter Mexico in a clean carrier, container, kennel or other type, without bedding and similar materials, without implements or accessories, otherwise, they will be removed by the official staff of the National Service of Health, Safety and Agri-Food Quality (Senasica) for destruction. This carrier receives a preventive treatment, by spraying, by the staff of Sader-Senasica.
If you send your pet with documentation, it is important that you verify the requirements with the airline of your choice and consider the need to use the services of a customs agent located in Mexico for its release before customs, after complying with the non-tariff regulations of Sader-Senasica.
If you transport one to three pets, the process for issuing the zoosanitary certificate for import is free.
In the case of canaries, ferrets, hamsters, guinea pigs, budgies, cockatiels, cockatiels, turtles, small wild birds (except birds of prey), you must comply with the requirements indicated in the Zoosanitary Import Requirements Consultation Module in order to obtain the zoosanitary certificate for their importation.
Going on vacation? Beware of travel fraud
Compliance with the regulations established by Sader-Senasica does not exempt you from compliance with regulations of other authorities at the point of entry into Mexico.
When you go through customs, present the zoosanitary certificate of the pet or companion animal to the customs staff for its importation, issued by Sader-Senasica.
In the case of wild animals, in addition to the zoosanitary certificate for their importation, it is necessary to present the Verification Record issued by Profepa, which verifies compliance with the regulations or non-tariff restrictions to which they are subject.
Food
You can bring in dry food in bulk, corresponding to the daily ration and accompanied by the pet; or a 50-pound bag, the equivalent of 22,680 kilograms per family or its equivalent in kilograms; it can be presented in a single package or up to two as long as it does not exceed the permitted amount; otherwise it must come from countries that have a combination of requirements in the Zoosanitary Requirements Consultation Module for Importation, packaged, labeled and without content of ruminant origin.
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