Planning a Trip to Mexico? Don’t Get Burned by Hefty Taxes on Digital Devices

Stop and think before you nonchalantly pack all your digital devices on your next trip to Mexico. A growing number of reports warn tourists that Mexican border officials are increasingly enforcing old laws about entering the country with electronic items – and it’s costing unsuspecting travelers hundreds of dollars in import duties. 

In our increasingly digital world, the number of devices many people travel with is exploding. One report says the average American now travels with four gadgets! 

If you’re in the same boat, that could put you on the wrong side of Mexican border rules that are old enough to cite nearly-forgotten things like ‘CD burners,’ ‘ten DVD’s’ or even ’30 CD’s’ in its list of restricted items. 

Laugh all you like at trying to remember the last time you touched – let alone traveled with – a CD. Tourists entering Mexico recently carrying the pretty standard combo of a laptop and a tablet are reportedly being hit with fines to the tune of USD $200! 

That was the experience of a Florida travel advisor arriving at the Cancun airport recently. Her story went viral and it brought stories of other travelers out of the woodwork. Some scoffed, countering with tales of multiple trips in and out of Mexico, carrying all kinds of electronics, and incurring no fines. But others told similar stories about being told they had to pay duties on their additional devices or have them confiscated. Some were even worried they had been scammed. 

But it’s no scam.

Here's Why Tourists are Being Fined:

Most travelers are used to seeing limitations about what they can bring into a country. It’s quite common to see limits - “personal exemptions” - on cash, alcohol and tobacco, for example. 

Mexico’s import laws, among other restrictions, limit incoming travelers to one ‘portable computing device.’ The new reports suggest enforcement officers are interpreting that to mean one laptop OR one tablet/ iPad. 

If you bring one of each, you could face a duty/ fine of up to 19% of the value up to $4000 of one of those devices. Some of those valuations – determined by the customs officer – are also raising eyebrows.

What Can Travelers Do to Avoid These Unexpected Costs?

Those who report traveling to Mexico with many devices without a problem are probably telling the truth. Border officials don't inspect or question everyone. But they can inspect or question anyone. 

Your best protection isn't luck - it's knowledge. Here’s a link to a Mexican government website page describing what can be brought into the country without having to pay duties. 

In addition to restrictions on fishing rods, toys, and musical instruments, there are limits on the number of cameras, cellphones, portable speakers, videogame consoles and videogames (beware parents!) as well as many other items.  

If you think the list seems not only outdated but also unreasonable in the context of standard modern personal possessions, you’re not alone. However, as it stands, that’s what is currently enforceable by Mexican border agents. 

Reports suggest the newly-enthusiastic enforcement of duties is happening mostly at Cancun airport – Mexico’s busiest. Travel trade publication Open Jaw’s report did the math: “Some 35,000 people fly into CUN every day. If the government hit just one per cent of those visitors with a fine of USD$200 if would mean USD$25 million a year, and that’s just for one airport.”

That’s some strong motivation. But not everyone involved in Mexico’s travel industry supports dinging tourists on what most would describe as a completely normal assortment of personal items. One hotel association official called it “incredible” that, when Mexico and many of its regions that rely on tourism are wooing visitors to the country, its border officers are hitting them with surprise fines under threat of losing their belongings.

We can’t say whether the new light shining on the apparently newly zealous enforcement of old regulations - that’s costing some unsuspecting tourists big bucks - will compel Mexico to update its laws. 

Until then, when it comes to your electronic devices, do your research, and to coin the old saying, count twice and pack once. 

Image: Getty

By: Lynn Elmhirst, travel journalist.