Riviera Maya, Q.R. — Governor Mara Lezama Espinoza has confirmed the postponement of the cruise passenger tax set for January 1, 2025. On Monday, Lezama said the federal government, who approved the tax, has agreed to postpone its collection for six months.
Instead of a January 1, 2025 start date, Lezama says the new federal tax collection date for cruise ship passengers will begin July 1, 2025.
The federal government of Mexico approved the new $42 USD DNR (Derecho de No Residente) or a Non-Resident Fee to cruise passengers entering Mexican territory. The $42 USD DNR tax is in addition to the $5 USD Environmental Sanitation Fee (DSA) approved earlier this year.
Lezama said she has been at the meetings held with the Florida and Caribbean Cruise Association (FCCA) with whom she will hold another meeting Monday to define strategies for the implementation of the tax. She said they will also discuss a way to reduce possible impacts on the state’s ports of Cozumel and Mahahual.
“We are a government that always thinks about the people. We are a government where we are also very clear that Quintana Roo’s vocation is tourism. It is the most important industry.
“We have been completely open with the federal government to talk, to engage in dialogue. We always believe that we should invest, that part of these new taxes should remain in the place where the visitor arrives, for the benefit of the citizens who provide the tourist service.
“I have personally been in those meetings and for now there is the postponement. There is an agreement. The tax will not be suspended, it cannot be suspended,” she explained.
Only cruise ship passengers who stop in Mexico are charged the $42 USD. The new fee will affect the cruise ports of Puerto Vallarta, La Paz and Los Cabos on the Pacific coast, Progreso in Yucatán and Cozumel and Mahahual in Quintana Roo.
The resources collected from the tax will be integrated into a state trust that will allow for improvements to the tourist infrastructure of Cozumel and Mahahual, in addition to being used for the Natural Disaster Relief Fund.
On Sunday, hundreds of Cozumel business owners protested the approval of the $42 USD tax on cruise passengers. Business owners marched to express their concern that the tax could force cruise ships to bypass Mexico altogether to avoid paying the tax.
