Annual Tax Payments

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Contributor: Victoria Pratt, local realtor

“…in this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.” Benjamin Franklin c. 1789

This is a good moment to enlighten would-be-buyers on how ridiculously inexpensive property taxes are, and, at the same time update our local owners—who are, thus, very happy to pay them—on how and where to do that this year. 

As an example, those considering ownership here will be impressed that a $300,000 property would have a property tax of roughly 3,000 pesos per year (yes, per year!). That’s about $160.00 USD or $205.00 CAD—barely the cost of a nice dinner out in Vancouver or L.A—certainly a fraction of knee-breaking fees above the 20^th parallel.  So, when one thinks of carrying costs on a residence here, they can practically categorize the annual property tax as “negligible”. 

To top off the painless cost, discounts are offered for early (timely) payment! If paid between January and March, the municipality of Bahia de Banderas (in which Bucerias, La Cruz, Nuevo Vallarta are all included) offers an early-bird rate of 15% in January, 10% in February and a “last call” rate of 5% in March. Also nice to know….the water commission extends exactly the same discounts. So that 1,150 peso annual bill could be as low as 975 pesos, financing a few tasty taco meals.

For those who are owners here, the annual taxes are generally published in the second week of January and can be seen and paid on-line at: https://www.bahiadebanderas.gob.mx/Tramites/Inicio/Views/Inicio.php

Hint: Type in your property tax account number where it says ‘Cuenta’ and click ‘Buscar’ or ‘Realizar Consulta’ (Search). Bahia de Banderas numbers have a U or R as a prefix to the number, which is not required in the input. The amount you owe will appear and payment can be made with your Visa or Master Card. Make sure to keep the payment receipt in your records. Note, if you are a foreign owner with a trust, your name does not appear on the account but the trust bank name does.

(The page may appear inactive until the tax information has been fully updated, so just check back.)

For water discounts check the promotion here: http://www.oromapas.gob.mx/%20pagoanualanticipadodescuentos/

Payments in person: The most convenient location is in Bucerias at the treasury office, which moved in the last year to be located on the northbound lateral just two blocks beyond the CFE offices. For that and other collection locations around Bahia de Banderas, check here: https://www.bahiadebanderas.gob.mx/x/index.php/centros-de-recaudacion-cobro/. Both taxes and water can be paid at these locations according to the site. Credit cards and cash are accepted at the offices.  

The benefit of making the payment directly at the offices is that the official receipt is issued right then and there, with the full property identification on it, handy for next year’s reference and it’s the best official record, especially if you’re not patient enough to navigate a second-step process that is required to get it on-line.

The other benefit is, afterward, you can just walk across the road, down two blocks to the beach and have a great rewarding lunch watching the waves roll in!