“Taxes, Taxes, and Less Taxes !”
July 6, 2008
Well, none of us likes to think much about taxes, but I admit it’s a lot less painful to think about them here at Lake Chapala. In fact many expatriates here instead of complaining to anyone who will listen, like they did before moving here to Lake Chapala, now delight in bragging to their family, friends, and neighbors still shivering up North or Sweating down South about just how low their taxes are here at Lake Chapala-Ajijic.
Just how low are the taxes here? Well let me just put it this way. Most folks here, depending upon just what part of North American they came from, now pay in a year what they paid in their native land in a month.
Just ask any of them. In my case my home taxes on my 2000 sq.ft. 3 bedroom 3 bath house with a 2 car garage in a nice area runs me less than $80 USD per year.
In all fairness I must confess that there is also a Value Added Tax (IVA) on most products here of approx. 15 % . But, even after this tax is included we pay substantially less than anywhere in North America.
Gasoline is currently approximately $2.70 USD per gallon which includes the tax.
There’s also a car tax if you own a Mexican plated car with the amount determined by the value of the car.
Foreign plated cars which most of the retirement community here drives (assuming they even have a car) are exempt from Mexican Car taxes.
There’s also a tax on imported goods which varies depending upon the type of goods involved. The normal solution is just to buy Mexican made products (Hecho en Mexico). But if you don’t find a Mexican brand or product that suits you, imported brands are readily available.
So, you too can be an almost Ex Taxpayer when you become an Expatriate.
