Luggage and Duty Exemption when entering México

Easter :   March 15 to April 15, 2023.

Summer:  July 25 to August 25, 2023.

Winter:  November 29 to January 8, 2024.

Currently, the value of goods that you can bring additional to your personal luggage without paying taxes is $300 dollars. During the holiday season this duty exception increases to $500 dollars.

If you enter Mexico by:

By land,: The duty exception value is  $300  dóllars all year long and  $500 dollars during holiday season (easter, summer and winter). only for passengers with Mexican nationality coming abroad to enter Mexico by land, except border area residents.

By air and sea: The duty exception value is $500 dollars all year long.

Notes. Duty Exemption when entering México

• If you travel together with your family, The duty exemption of each member can be accumulated, except if you are a border area resident.

• The value of the goods that are part of the duty exemption can be prove with invoices or sales receipts, in the case of not having these. the customs officer will determine the value of the goods.

These goods are not allowed as part of your duty exception.

• Alcoholic beverages.
• Manufactured tobacco.
• Automotive fuel, except the contained in the fuel tank of your vehicle.

It is allowed to enter Mexico without having to declare, the following:

• Your personal luggage according to the duration of your stay in Mexico.

• Goods that do not exceed the value of the duty exception mentioned above.

Goods allowed as Personal Baggage.

• • Goods of personal usage, such as clothing, footwear, and personal care products, according to the length of the trip, including a wedding dress, baby items like a chair, carry cot, baby walker and stroller, among others, including their accessories.
  • Two cameras or video recorders, photographic material; 6 portable cell phone equipment or other wireless networks; a global positioning equipment (GPS); an electronic agenda; a laptop, notebook, omnibook or similar; a portable copying machine or printer, a computer burner and a portable projector, with its accessories.
  • Two personal sport kits, four fishing rods, 6 sailboats (with or without sail) and its accessories, trophies and awards, as long as they can be transported by the passenger.
  • A portable device for recording or reproduction of sound or mixed; two digital sound or image recording, one portable DVD player, one set of portable speakers and their accessories.
  • Five laser discs, 10 DVD discs, 30 compact discs, 6 software packages and five storage devices for any electronic equipment.
  • Books, magazines, and printed documents.
  • Five toys, including collectible toys, one video games console as well as five video games.
  • One pressure measuring device, one glucose measuring device, or mixed and its reactants, as well as medicines for personal use (in case of psychotropic substances medical prescription must be shown).
  • Hand luggage, bags, trunks and suitcases or any other item necessary for the carriage of the luggage.
  • One binocular and one telescope.
  • Two musical instruments and their accessories.
  • One tent and other camping items.
  • One hand tool set with its case, which may include a drill, tweezers, spanners, dice tool, screwdrivers, and power cables, among others.
  • Passengers over 18 years old are permitted to enter a maximum of 10 packs of cigarettes, 25 cigars or 200 g of tobacco, and up to 3 liters of alcoholic beverages and 6 liters of wine.
  • Senior adults and people with disabilities can introduce items that overcome or reduce their limitations without paying additional taxes such as walkers, wheelchairs, crutches, walking sticks, among others.

In addition, you can import without paying taxes, up top 3 pets brought with you, such as cats, dogs, canaries, hamsters, guinea pigs, australian parakeets, nymphs, ferrets, parrots, turtles and wild birds of small size (except predacious), as well as the required accessories for their carriage and cleaning. You must present to the customs officer the zoosanitary certificate issued by SAGARPA. In case of wildlife animals, you must additionally present the Verification Record issued by PROFEPA, which verifies the compliance of the regulations and non-tariff restrictions to which they are subjected.

If your goods exceed the value of the duty exception you will have to declare them and pay the taxes referring to that excess

These goods are prohibited or regulated and you cannot bring:

• Narcotics.
• Live fish of the predatory species of any size.
• Images of any type that represent children in a degrading or ridiculous way, or in an attitude inciting violence or destruction.
• Worn clothing or footwear that are not part of your personal luggage.
• Weapons and ammunition.

• Prohibited Products

Residents at the border area may enter goods for personal consumption that comply with the following.

• The value of the goods must not exceed the equivalent in national or foreign currency to 150 USD per day. However, there are periods that correspond to the Paisano Program published by the National Institute of Migration and the Administration General of Customs, in the web pages www.inm.gob.mx and www.sat.gob.mx. , where passengers from the border area may import under the duty exemption goods up to 300 USD or its equivalent in domestic or foreign currency.
• When you enter Mexico in your vehicle with more than two people in it, the value of the goods that you enter as a whole must not exceed 400 USD.
• Under this duty exemption you cannot enter the following goods:
  • Alcoholic beverages.
  • Beer.
  • Tobacco styled in cigars or cigars.
  • Automotive fuel, except fuel that is contained in the fuel tank of your vehicle.

The official ID that accredits you as a resident of the border area are the following:

1. Migratory form issued by the Ministry of Interior. In this case, the address must be certified with a copy of the last telephone, electricity or leasing bill, accompanied by the last rent payment receipt that complies with the fiscal requirements, prior official ID of the interested party.
2. Visa or document issued by a foreign government to border residents to enter the territory of the issuing country. In this case, it is not necessary to prove the address.
3. Valid voting credential with photograph, and copy of the last telephone or electricity bill or leasing contract, accompanied by the last rent payment receipt that complies with the fiscal requirements.

Alcoholic beverages and manufactured tobacco

As a border area resident you may bring beer, alcoholic beverages, handmade tobacco, cigarrets or cigars, without requiring the services of a customs broker or a customs agent, as long as the following:

• The value of the declared goods does not exceed 50 dollars.
• The corresponding taxes are paid through the simplified electronic format “Payment of Federal Contributions”, according to the following table:

Northern Border

It is the territory between the dividing international line of the north part of the country, and the parallel line at a 20 km distance towards the country´s interior, in the section between the boundary of the State of Sonora and the Gulf of Mexico, as well as the border municipality of Cananea, Sonora.

Border Region.

The states of North Baja California, South Baja California, Quintana Roo and the partial region of Sonora; the southern border with Guatemala and the municipalities of Caborca, Comitan de Dominguez, Chiapas, and Salina Cruz, Oaxaca.

Partial Region of the state of Sonora.

The area within the following limits: to the north, the international border limits from the current riverbed of the Colorado River to the point located in that line 10 kms west of Sonoyta; from that point, a straight line until reaching the coast at a point located 10 kms east of Puerto Peñasco; from there, following the riverbed, towards the north until finding the international dividing line.

If you enter or leave Mexico and you carry amounts greater than the equivalent of $10,000 dollars, in:

1. Cash
2. National or foreign checks
3. Payment orders
4. Any other document receivable

or a combination of the above mentioned, has the obligation to declare it to the customs authority, through the following formats:

1. When entering the country, the Customs Declaration for passengers coming from abroad.
2. When leaving, the Declaration of Money, Departure of Passengers.

If you answer that you are bringing more than $10,000 USD in any of these statements, you must also fill in the Declaration of Internment or Extraction of Cash Amounts or Documents Receivable.

NOTE:    Duty Exemption when entering México

If you do not declare it, you will be liable to a fine of 20% to 40% of the amount that exceeds the $10,000 dollars. If the amount you did not declare is higher than $30,000 dollars, you will be sanctioned with a penalty of 3 months to 6 years in prison and the surplus will become property of the Tax Authority, unless the legal origin of the resources is proven. In case your legitimate origin is not proven, you can also reach a penalty of 5 to 15 years in prison and $1000 to $5000 of Mexico´s minimum wage of days fine, as it is considered an operation with illegal resources.

Entering or leaving the country with more than $10,000 dollars or its equivalent in other currencies is not a crime, Not declaring it is.

You are required to declare when you bring with you merchandise whose value exceeds your franchise, as long as the value of the merchandise does not exceed $ 3,000 usd or its equivalent in national currency. In the case of computer equipment, its value added to that of other merchandise may not exceed $ 4,000 usd or its equivalent in national currency. If your arrival is for:

a) Airplane or ship: You will have to fill in the form of “Customs Declaration for Passengers from abroad” to present it to the Customs personnel.

b) Bus: The driver must go to the designated point of inspection at the border, where you must descend the bus with all your belongings and luggage, as well as fill out the “Customs Declaration for passengers from abroad” form.

NOTE:

Remember that now you can fill your Customs Declaration before your arrival in Mexico, through the page Declaration for Passengers coming from abroad

Keep in mind that payments can be made in advance and will be valid for 30 calendar days, when entering Mexico. The passenger must deliver the format generated in the system “Payment of federal taxes”, as well as the bank receipt of payment of federal taxes, issued by an authorized credit institution.

Keep in mind that the failure to declare in customs can cause you from a considerable fine, to the deprivation of liberty according to the seriousness of each case.

The information that is shown below, is merely informative and there are only some infractions and sanctions that you could be subject to, highlighting that they are enunciative but not limitative.

Transport, Export or Import goods::

1. Without making your declaration to the customs authority; and not having made the payment of the corresponding taxes.li>
2. That they are subject to non-tariff regulations and restrictions and do not have the necessary documentation and/or permits.
3. Prohibited or restricted.
4. Enter or remove goods in a hidden way or using cover up methods.

Some of the sanctions that you could be subjected to if you fail to comply with the provisions of the Customs Law are:

1. Administrative Procedure in Customs Matters (PAMA for its spanish acronym).
2. Precautionary seizure of the goods and the means in which they are transported.
3. Public Abandonment of the goods as long as they do not exceed $3000 USD. The above are subject to Regulations and Non-Tariff Restrictions and have not been complied with; and the corresponding fine is covered.
4. Fines may be from 80% to 120% of the commercial value of your goods.
5. Even the goods, the means in which they are transported, could become property of the Federal Treasury.

Depending on the seriousness of the infraction, without prejudice to the sanctions referred to the Customs Law, you may be subjected to present yourself with the Public Ministry.

The above mentioned infractions and sanctions are only some of the cases considered in the current Customs Law, can find all of them in Title Eight of the aforementioned legislation.

For more details, visit the official website Baggage and Franchise.