The dream of running your second home as a five-star hotel in the Yucatan is coming to an end.
At least to a tax-free end. The Yucatecan Hotels Association (a very influential private sector group) has very actively pushed the government’s decision makers to start working on developing public policy measures to counteract what they consider unfair competition of lodging platforms.
Their reasoning is all about the heavy regulations, taxation and high costs of operation that make it impossible for them to compete with fees as low as $5 dollar rooms that usually go untaxed to the home owners pocket.
Last year AIRBNB representatives had a series of meetings with the Yucatan Government and agreements were made to start sharing information and withholding taxes through AIRBNB’s system. Since last year AIRBNB has shared information about 2,200 hosts that advertise more than 3,500 properties that have lodged more than 3 million tourists during 2016 and 2017 alone.
In the first months of 2018 AIRBNB requested to all their Yucatecan based property owners to accept their new rules of disclosing information and by accepting those terms basically a permission to the Government officials was granted to disclose such information to the different agencies interested on taxing and regulation accountability.
As of June 1st, all income generated by AIRBNB platform from services offered in Yucatan will be retained 3% as a hotel city tax that later will be transferred to the Government. This information will help as evidence so other agencies contact home owners to request compliance on other matters such as capital gain tax filing, Social Security payments to staff employed by them, Immigration permissions to act as income earners, proper use of land as a commercial district, proper power rate from the CFE since a hotel is charged a commercial rate, annual property tax, garbage collection rate, civil protection regulation and special lodging insurance for guests, etc. etc.
Hotels will not stop until homeowners renting places as hotels through platforms will run their business with the same level of compliance and costs as they have been subject to pay for years. This might not happen overnight, but it has started. If you generate income by this platform you have two choices, either stop and continue enjoying your second home, or become a Yucatecan Hotelier from June 1st on, by getting prepared with everything that would mean.
You can contact us at director@yucatanvisa.com if you want to do the right thing and start preparing to comply with Yucatan regulations coming ahead.
By Lic. Rodrigo Rodríguez, Director
YucatanVisa Immigration Services
Paseo Colón No. 503 Suite R
Col. García Ginerés, C.P. 97070, Mérida, Yucatán
director@yucatanvisa.com
Tel. (999) 285 73 22
Fax. (999) 920 20 74
Cellphone. (999) 310 11 40
Toll Free US and Canada 1 844 301 1770
