On August 5, the Secretary of Tourism, Edibray Gómez Gallegos, announced that Chihuahua’s government is seeking to regulate the income earned by leasing platforms, as it already does in twelve different states of Mexico, such as Mexico City, Baja California, and Guanajuato.

The aforementioned intends to curb the legal loopholes that digital platforms use in tax litigation to omit lodging tax payments. Therefore, the current lodging tax legislation enacted on the Finance Law of the State of Chihuahua, will change.

The reasons behind these new changes reside not only in the desire of Chihuahua’s government to get more resources but also in the supposed unfair competition between the hotel sector and leasing platforms such as Airbnb. 

Following massive complaints from the hotel sector in our state, where they argued it was unfair for them to pay 4% calculated based on the value of the lease—gross value, that is, without adding the value-added tax— whereas leasing platforms are relieved from such tax due to the omission of being contemplated those kind of businesses on the law. The above, pursuant to Articles 40 and 46 of the Finance Law of the State of Chihuahua, which regulates the lodging tax.

Apparently, these new changes will only include leasing platforms in the legal hypothesis of the lodging tax. However, the Ministry of Finance of the State of Chihuahua doesn’t discard the option to enact the income earned from those platforms with a new tax. But one thing is certain: Airbnb and similar platforms won’t be relieved anymore in the Chihuahua State of the lodging tax. 

Instead, in the near future, digital platforms will add the lodging tax to their tax duties in Mexico and probably must retain it, as they do with the income tax and Value-added tax. 

Although all new taxes enacted by local congresses can be challenged in Mexico through Amparo Proceedings, their success depends more on the lawmaker’s mistakes than the tax itself. This is caused by the broad discretion of the local governments to impose new taxes or amend those existing ones, which the Supreme Court of Mexico has used in similar cases.

Staff

beLegal abogados S.C

Abogados en Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, México

For English assistance, contact the firm at (656) 774-75-73 or (656) 271-41-43. For Spanish assistance, contact the firm at (656) 271-41-43.

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