Often times, popular cruise ports levy taxes on ships or passengers to help finance port facilities, infrastructure, and associated developments.
But Mexico’s Congress has voted this week to charge a $42 immigration levy for every passenger on cruise ships that dock in Mexico, with much of the money going to an unexpected source.
According to the proposed new law, two-thirds of this tax would benefit the Mexican army.
Mexico’s ruling Morena party is running enormous budget deficits to fund building projects such as railways and oil refineries, some of which are being built by the army. The party is desperately seeking new revenue sources, and it appears that the cruise industry has entered their crosshairs.
On Thursday, the Mexican Association of Shipping Agents said that the charges could make Mexico uncompetitively expensive for cruise ships.
“If this measure is implemented, it would make Mexican ports of call among the most expensive in the world, severely affecting their competitiveness with other Caribbean destinations,” the association said via a statement.
The association also called on Mexico’s Senate to kill the measure. Specifically, the law calls for two-thirds of the income from the immigration charge to be handed over to the country’s defense department, although the reasons for that are not clear.
“It is necessary to eliminate the exemption from immigration document payment for foreign passengers who enter Mexico aboard cruise ships,” the new budget law stated, in part.
Previously, cruise ship passengers had been exempted from the immigration fee, as they sleep aboard ship—and some don’t even disembark during port calls. They would apparently be charged the $42 fee anyway, according to the measure.
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