We have no intention of boring you with technical legal reforms that will have no effect on you; however, there were numerous legal reforms in 2013 —especially in December— that involve you as a foreigner living in or visiting Mexico this year. Since the reforms were massive, we will not cover each in detail. If you would like more detail about any of them, please do not hesitate to contact your attorney or accountant.

To begin, the Constitutional reform to allow foreigners to own land outright in the restricted zone (50 km from the beach and 100 km from borders) has not yet been made into law. It passed in Mexico’s House of Representatives in April 2013 and was supposed to be voted on in the Senate in September 2013, but that still hasn’t happened as of January 10, 2014.

The three legal reforms for 2014 that we believe will be of most interest to you follow.
 
1. The new “anti-money laundering law” or what is officially known as the “Federal Law to Prevent and Identify Operations with Funds of Illicit Origin” established several activities that are considered “vulnerable,” including purchasing and selling real estate, banking, construction, buying and selling vehicles (boats and planes included) and reception of donations to associations and non-profits, among several other activities.

This new law requires people who provide services related to these “vulnerable” activities, such as attorneys, accountants, real estate agents, bankers and notaries, to acquire signed statements from their clients and, in many cases, provide Mexican authorities with the information in these statements, including a copy of your passport, tax ID (Social Security number) and other personal information.

This was not required in the past and obviously will create some hesitation on your part when asked to give this information. You should only provide this information to professionals you have hired —preferably via a written agreement— who have made you aware of their obligation to keep your information confidential. Note that confidentiality is not broken when your service provider is obligated to collect and provide the required information to the Mexican authorities under the anti-money laundering law.

Providing false, altered or incorrect information in these statements comes with a penalty of two to eight years of prison. Notaries, attorneys, accountants, bankers, real estate agents and other service providers you hire will ask you to fill out and sign these statements and must refuse to provide services if you refuse.

2. Among the many major changes in the tax law this year, we consider the following the most likely to affect you.
 
The “small taxpayer” bracket, known as REPECOS, was eliminated. Under the old system, REPECOS paid income tax based on gross income, which provided benefits such as a tax rate of only 2 to 5 percent, no need to deal with provider or client facturas and simplified accounting and filing requirements. Former REPECOS now must sign up under a new category and pay income tax at a rate of 0 to 35 percent (depending on income). Furthermore, the tax payer will be required to collect and give facturas, and the accounting, reporting and filing requirements are more complex. To minimize the shock of this change, the government is giving a 100 percent discount on income tax and IVA for 2014. This discount will be reduced at a rate of 10 percent each year (90 percent for 2015, 80 percent for 2016 and so on), but the IVA discount is only for 2014. If you were in the REPECO category in 2013, you need to speak with your accountant as soon as possible to get set up in a tax new category.

All deductible expenses now must be documented via an electronic factura, e-factura. Paper facturas (deductable invoices) are no longer permitted —with some minor exceptions. The rules for giving or receiving e-facturas are also substantially different from the rules for paper facturas. Your business needs to be authorized to grant e-facturas, and you need to make sure the e-facturas you receive comply with the new rules.

Your email address is now also your tax address. Because the tax authority has had problems locating the physical address of tax payers to notify them of tax requirements or audits, you now must provide both a physical address and an email address. The tax authority will require an email verification of this address via a response to an email sent by them.

This reform will make it easier for the government to contact you, and we foresee that tax notifications via email will increase the number of requirements the governments sends out. Please note that just because you are sent a tax notification requiring you to provide information, you are not legally required to provide it unless their request is based on an expressed written legal statue that applies to your case.

Do not just give out information without first checking to see if you legally have to provide it! Receiving a notification does start the clock ticking on the time you have to respond, so we highly recommend that you get immediate tax advice from a tax attorney upon receiving a notification.

There are no more full exemptions on the sale of your primary residence. If you owned a home that was considered your primary residence in Mexico for five years or more prior to the sale, the full sales value used to be exempt from income tax. This exemption no longer exists. If you sold your primary residence prior to living in it for five years, you used to be exempt on the first $500,000 USD (approximately) of gain. This amount has now been reduced to approximately $250,000 USD. Note that the house must still qualify as your primary residence in Mexico to take this exemption.

Rules regarding the temporary importation of foreign cars have also changed. If you have a Visitor visa or a Temporary Resident visa, you are allowed one car in the country for the term of your visa. All other forms of visas (including Permanent Resident and Student) do not allow you to have a foreign car in Mexico under a temporary car import.

If you are in the business of importing merchandise to Mexico (and are a registered importer), you can now process the importation of your goods without having to go through a customs agent.

The flat tax (IETU) has been eliminated, to the delight of many real estate developers. For the last couple of years, businesses were required to pay a flat tax of 17.5 percent of gross sales if the net income tax you had on those sales was less than 17.5 percent of the sale.

Real estate developers no longer can consider only payments received on a sale as income. Unfortunately, this reform will require that real estate developers show the total value of a sale in the month the sales agreement is signed as income, even if the property is paid for in partial payments over the following months or years.

IVA is now 16 percent in all states of Mexico. Prior to the reform, certain areas of Mexico, including all of northern and southern Baja, paid a lower IVA rate of 11 percent.

In 2014 Mexican banks will start notifying the US government of US citizens who have a bank account in Mexico.

3. At first glance, most readers will not think they will be affected by the recently passed Constitutional reforms regarding Mexico’s energy sector. These reforms allow Mexico to now enter into agreements to unlock large oil and gas reserves, estimated to bring 20 billion dollars of foreign investment into Mexico each year.

This type of investment and the secondary effects it produces will be felt all over Mexico, including here in Puerto Vallarta. We could see the same type of “investor boom” we saw when NAFTA passed, which has been very positive for Mexico to date. Just a few weeks after this law was passed, our firms already had begun receiving calls from people in the oil and gas industry about business opportunities in Mexico.

In this article, we have touched on just some of the reforms we feel will be of interest to you, so please forgive us if other reforms you have heard about were not mentioned. If you are living or doing business in Mexico, we highly recommend that you set up a meeting with your accountant and possibly attorney to get a more complete understanding of how these changes will affect you.

This article was written jointly by David W. Connell, of Connell & Associates, and Gabriela Rojas, of Teran Rojas & Assoc. Any comments or questions can be sent to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

The training sessions held at the RCI call centers in Indianapolis and Salt Lake City not only increased the destination’s promotion within the United States, but also with the millions of members the company has around the world.

The Riviera Nayarit and the Puerto Vallarta convention and visitors bureaus together visited the cities of Indianapolis and Salt Lake City at the end of March as part of their promotional efforts in the United States.

It was a visit with multiple benefits, since the training and updating that took place at the Resort Condominiums International (RCI) call centers in both cities has a very extensive reach.

This is due in part to the fact that RCI is one of the world’s most important timeshare companies, thanks to its two million members spread out among the five continents.

Its members are people who have a timeshare or fractional ownership. The benefit of belonging to this company is the vacation exchanges they can enjoy with all the ease and benefits of working with a travel agency.

The training served to reinforce information about the destinations in order to facilitate the sale of properties associated with this company. A total of 292 travel agents took part in the updates: 216 in Indianapolis and 76 in Salt Lake City.

 Presentations on the tourism offerings for Riviera Nayarit and Puerto Vallarta were held at both call centers, during which they were also walked through the websites for each destination so they could use it as an additional source of information on the hotel properties and the attractions of each area.

RCI recently celebrated 40 years in the market, which makes it one of the oldest companies in this industry. This is an excellent commercial alliance that greatly benefits and amplifies the promotion of both Puerto Vallarta and the Riviera Nayarit.

These actions strengthen business relations beyond the captive market represented by the United States, as they are magnified through this global company’s vast commercial exchange networks.

The official revenue published by the Riviera Nayarit Convention and Visitors Bureau Barometer for 2013 is $1,684,626,492.20 USD, only $200 million USD less than what was generated in 2008.

The Riviera Nayarit Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB) Barometer published the official revenue for 2013, which came to a total of $1,684,626,492.20 USD.

This amount is the sum of all the expenditures made by visitors to San Blas, Compostela and Banderas Bay, including transportation, accommodations, food and beverage, entertainment and other tourism services.

These numbers reinforced the current tendency towards recovery, as it was noted the total annual revenue for 2008 was $200 million USD less than that generated in 2013.

Another relevant average was revealed by the Riviera Nayarit CVB Barometer was the average expenditure per person during their visit. Taking into consideration the fluctuation between the low and high seasons, on average the international visitor spends $19,379.10 Mexican pesos per visit, while the domestic visitor spends $6,676.02 pesos per visit.

The results regarding the Riviera Nayarit’s average annual room rates per day was established at $1,720.48 Mexican pesos.

The average rate for Banderas Bay was $2,036.32 pesos; Compostela’s average rate was $1,052.70 pesos; and San Blas came in at $560.28 pesos per day.

A study titled “Tourism in the Mexican Economy” emerged from the numbers and statistics emitted by official sources such as INEGI, IMSS, SECTUR and others. It states that thanks to the tourism industry, Nayarit has maintained itself above the national average in regards to an increase in Gross Domestic Product; the marginalization index was also reduced overall versus the national average.

This study indicated that on the domestic level tourism is the main job creator for women, since it was found 57.9% of employees in this branch were female.

With tourism as one of the principal economic activities in the state, these numbers reflect an increasing benefit for the citizens of Nayarit, one of the main objectives of the Riviera Nayarit CVB and the State Government.

FIBBA presented its Letter of Intent to Federal and State representatives of SEMARNAT as well as to PROFEPA in order to initiate the environmental certification of Nuevo Vallarta.

The Banderas Bay Trust (FIBBA by its acronym in Spanish) presented its official Letter of Intent to become the first “Clean Tourism Destination” in Mexico during the Conference on Environmental Quality in Tourism, part of the National Environmental Audit Program currently underway by the Secretariat for the Environment and Natural Resources (SEMARNAT by its acronym in Spanish) and the Federal Environmental Protection Agency (PROFEPA by its acronym in Spanish).

The SEMARNAT and PROFEPTA federal and state authorities received the commitment letter on March 26th in order to commence the procedures required of Nuevo Vallarta, which will take anywhere between 9 and 18 months to complete.

The four certificates needed are: Integrated Waste Management, Integrated Water Management, Integrated Management of Natural Resources and Integrated Management of the Urban Infrastructure.
This is an imminent opportunity for the Riviera Nayarit, as Nuevo Vallarta was developed as a tourism destination in its entirety right from the start.

The initial objective for the meeting between the authorities and the tourism service providers was to inform the companies involved about the procedures needed in order to obtain their certificate of “Environmental Quality in Tourism.”

This classification is valid for two years and is based on the General Law of Ecological Equilibrium and Environmental Care; it will not only benefit the environment, but companies will also save on their bottom line and may even generate earnings.

In order to obtain this recognition, the companies must volunteer to hire an auditor to analyze different elements such as water usage, soil and subsoil, waste and more. This way they can also avoid fines and sanctions.

The destination and the tourism companies that obtain this environmental certification will also be of benefit to tourists, as it will become one more reason to continue to position the Riviera Nayarit on the domestic and international stage.

If you are considering visiting or relocating to Mexico, it is of primary importance that you have the right Mexico car insurance when driving to Mexico. Any kind of Mexico car insurance should be from a company accredited by the Mexican government.

March 12 - Enrique Ramos Flores, head of the Ministry of Tourism of Jalisco (SECTURJAL) held several working meetings yesterday morning with Michelle Page, president of the Florida-Caribbean Cruise Association (FCCA), and three directors of the major shipping companies in the world.

The Arrival of These Two Cruise Ships Represents Economic Increase.

Cruise ship Carnival Miracle arrived on our port on February 25th at 12:00 p.m.

Concerns of residents of the downtown and romantic areas are addressed.

During the meeting, the mayor reiterated his interest Vallarta and "willingness to Puerto Vallarta team with all political and social actors, and I reiterate my willingness to work dispassionately, in the sole interest of Puerto Vallarta."

The mayor, Ramón Guerrero Martínez, the Secretaries of Tourism, Enrique Ramos Flores and Infrastructure and Public Works in the state, Roberto Lopez Davalos, met with neighbors, business and farm owners colony center, Emiliano Zapata and 5 December, in addition to members of the association of architects, to address the different works in tourism will have planned for this year as well as the concerns and proposals are for development and rescue of the area.

During the meeting, the mayor reiterated his interest Vallarta and "willingness to Puerto Vallarta team with all political and social actors, and I reiterate my willingness to work dispassionately, in the sole interest of Puerto Vallarta."

In a recent edition of the Los Angeles Times Travel Show the expert travel and tourism writer praised the Riviera Nayarit, positioning it at the top of the list of where to travel for 2014.

Not content with placing the Riviera Nayarit among the most important destinations to visit in 2014 on his website, www.frommers.com, the internationally recognized travel and tourism expert Arthur Frommer took to the microphone at the Los Angeles Times Travel Show to praise the destination for himself.

During an event that took place in the Los Angeles Convention Center, Frommer used his turn on the stage to expand on on the many attractions of Mexico’s Pacific Treasures, this according to travel expert and founder of the “World Travel List,” Nicholas Kontis, in his article on www.huffingtonpost.com.

Nicholas described Frommer as the father of travel writing and the creator of the first modern travel guides, calling him the “incomparable Arthur Frommer.”

“As anybody with a pulse on travel knows, “when Frommer speaks, travelers, industry insiders and the world listens,” stated Kontis in his article.  

During his speech, Frommer singled out Nayarit’s hundreds of kilometers of beaches, the more than 300 sunny days a year, visitor safety and the hotel infrastructure.

“Not too surprising that the Mexican government is on a mission to build up this 200 mile stretch of land into the next tourist gateway for foreigners traveling to Mexico,” states the article, echoing Frommer’s own words.

“The Marietta Islands are a treasure for snorkelers, divers, and fishermen and one of the many gems in the state of Nayarit. The once sleepy fishing village of Sayulita is now a ‘surfer’s paradise,’ and one of the many vibrant areas within an hour’s reach of Puerto Vallarta,” it continues.

Accordingly, Marc Murphy, the Managing Director of the Riviera Nayarit Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB) commented that it’s an honor to have someone as important as Arthur Frommer not only publish articles on the destination, but also highlight the Riviera Nayarit during his presentations.

“It’s both important and revealing that Mr. Frommer chose to recommend the Riviera Nayarit in his own words, as this lends an incredible added value to the information,” said Murphy. “This is a great example of the positioning and reach of our destination, because what he says is nothing less than the true experience of the place.”

The www.Huffingtonpost.com published an article on seven beach destinations you haven’t tried yet; meanwhile, www.Hopperblog.com also includes the Riviera Nayarit in its list of Mexico’s hidden gems.

The world is constantly changing, opening up spaces for new experiences—especially for travelers. And while new experiences can always be found in the same destinations, there are always other locations waiting to be discovered.

To that end, the tourism sections from the www.HuffingtonPost.com and www.Hopperblog.com decided to put together a list of seven beaches you haven’t tried yet and five hidden gems to seek in Mexico—and the Riviera Nayarit made the list on both platforms.

HuffPost, as it’s known to avid websurfers, begins its post explaining how tourists in general tend to visit places that are traditionally frequented by the majority, but that once they make the journey… they go in search of something more.

There are also those who prefer to venture out to explore new places versus the paths already trodden. “Either way, we love these seven underrated beach destinations; they're rarely a traveler's first choice, but perhaps they should be,” they wrote in the post.

The headline reads: “Instead of Cancún, head Riviera Nayarit”, and they proceed to wax eloquent about the 190 miles of beautiful beaches, fantastic resorts, and world-class golf courses.

According to the article: “Punta Mita and Nuevo Vallarta are the most popular towns here, but there are also a number of charming little beach towns such as Sayulita and San Pancho that offer visitors a more authentic Mexican experience.”

HopperBlog, on the other hand, considers the Riviera Nayarit to be one of the five hidden gems to visit on vacation in Mexico.

“With one foot on the illustrious Western Sierra Madre and one foot dipped into the Pacific Ocean, Riviera Nayarit has the perfect weather for any kind of beachgoer – the areas of Sayulita and Matanchen Bay are a surfer’s dream while San Blas is a quiet and friendly little town that still harkens back to its early Spanish colonial days,” said the article.
 
Click here for to read the articles: Hopper Blog Article - Huffington Post Article

Thanks to the excellent work and coordination among the delegates of the Bay of Banderas Hotel and Motel Association, its board members have been re-elected, with the addition of Mairo Topete as spokesperson.

The decision was reached to re-elect the existing board members after the Bay of Banderas Hotel and Motel Association Assembly (AHMBB by its acronym in Spanish) took places on February 13, 2014.

The voting went ahead without any objections, with Mario Topete added as spokesperson in order to give Bucerías a larger presence, since this destination’s growth has been steady thanks to the renovation of the plaza and other updates taking place in the area.

The positions were reconfirmed as follows: Fernando González as president, Abel Santos as vicepresident, Heriberto Pineda as treasurer, Jesús Aguirre, Rodolfo González and Mario Topete as spokespersons. The managers of the seven committees that complement the group will also remain in place.

“The Board was ratified with some minor changes with the intention of allowing continuity,” said González Ortega. “I’m very honored that all of the associates that attended trust this Board unanimously; we will endeavor to continue to work together in order to provide the best results for the Riviera Nayarit.”

Among the excellent results obtained is the change in the tourism numbers, which are moving in a very positive direction as this industry leaves behind the somewhat tough past few years.  

“We won’t reach the 2008 levels for another two or three years, but we’re reversing that backward trend and want to take advantage of the unprecedented efforts that are taking place to do so,” he said.

As part of this Assembly, Marc Murphy, the Riviera Nayarit Convention and Visitors Bureau’s Managing Director, presented the 2013 results, which were applauded by those present at the event in a show of support for all of the advances that have taken place.

In this manner, the AHMBB demonstrates its solidarity; they work well together, which is evident in the excellent participation in the assemblies, especially considering that it is one of the associations with the highest number of meetings throughout the year. The same can be said of its fundraising efforts and the unanimity with which they make all of their important decisions.

This was the first visit to the Riviera Nayarit for the majority of the 700 international visitors that were present at the event. The destination definitely exceeded their expectations and they said they would return to enjoy themselves once again.

Once the Conference on the Humanitarian Impact of Nuclear Weapons in the Riviera Nayarit was concluded, the destination proved once again to be a top-notch host for one of the most transcendental events held in the region.

Organized by the Government of the Republic and convened by the United Nations, this is the first time the Riviera Nayarit plays host to a conference of this magnitude; however, it was more than up for the challenge, demonstrating its capacity to handle conventions of the highest order.

700 people from 143 countries attended the event, among them ministers and representatives from governments, civic societies and the press. They were all very satisfied with the infrastructure and overall quality of the event, but were especially impressed by the warmth and hospitality of the citizens of Nayarit.

Héctor Guerra, ICAN’s Coordinator for Latin America and the Caribbean, said the amount of work, the experience and the perfect infrastructure is exactly what’s needed to work with these types of organizations.

“This place has tremendous potential and has the logistics to deal with the organization of this type of events,” he commented. “I think it’s important for the destination to use this event as a platform to project even more into the international arena, especially where intergovernmental events are concerned.”

This was First Secretary at the Delegation of Japan to the Conference on Disarmament, Chihiro Mochizuki’s first visit to Nayarit and Mexico, and he said it was an unforgettable experience.

“I think Nayarit has a wonderful environment and great infrastructure, which is why the conference was such a success,” expressed the public servant. “It has a great location; I’m very happy and I think the best part is really the people. They’re always smiling and they are very hospitable.”

The Riviera Nayarit CVB surprises attendees with a grand welcome cocktail party

The conferences and dialogs took place in a satisfactory manner at the Hotel Paradise Village. The Riviera Nayarit Convention and Visitors Bureau was charged with organizing the welcome cocktail, which was described as “surprising” by those who attended.

The attendees were given a taste of Nayarit’s cuisine set against the backdrop of the El Tigre Gold Club House, served with drinks prepared by regional mixologists. There was live music and a breathtaking presentation by the Ballet Mexcaltitán.

The visitors were eager to visit Sayulita and the Marietas Islands to observe the humpback whales during their free time, and all agreed they would return to explore more of the Riviera Nayarit.