Be aware of local customs rules when traveling 
For many U.S. citizens traveling to foreign countries, going through customs upon arrival can be an adventure, even for experienced travelers. If you’re going to Cancun, Mexico, it might be a little more challenging.

            Cancun International Airport is the busiest airport in Mexico, with over 500 daily flights and some 13 million passengers annually. If you’ve ever been there, you know it’s a very busy place and generally runs pretty efficiently. One visitor from Florida recently found out that it might be a little too efficient.

            Tammy Levent told USA Today that she had arrived on a business visit with two check-in suitcases and one carry-on. She was flagged to one of the customs tables and told that a search of her luggage had found something that caught the agent’s attention. No, it wasn’t drugs or other contraband. It was her iPad and her laptop computer. “You can’t have both,” she was told.

            This was news to Levent, who’d brought both devices with her to Cancun several times in the past without a problem. But this was the day she found out that Mexican customs regulations allow one portable computer per foreign arrival. Tablets count, just like laptops. An extra device means a tax of up to 19% of the deemed value, which is up to $4,000 per device. Levent had to pay a $200 entry tax on her iPad, which meant it was valued on the spot at about $2,000, much more than its actual worth, especially considering it was not even close to brand-new. “This was wrong,” Levent told the newspaper. “At the end of the day you want tourism but you’re driving people away,” citing the example of a company that would be bringing employees to Cancun for a conference, with most of those visitors packing more than one device.

            The Mexican law isn’t new, but it’s only randomly enforced. The customs list says foreign travelers can bring “a portable computer equipment known as laptop, notebook, omnibook or similar.” If passengers don’t pay the 19% fine for their extra device, it will be confiscated. It’s not hard to imagine that the traveler would never see the device again.

            Michael Boguslavskiy, a specialist on Cancun trips, says the law “has actually been in effect for a very, very long time. It’s a massively outdated list at this point but it’s still there.” He points out that visitors can only bring in a maximum of ten DVDs. Who still travels with DVDs? Many Gen-Z travelers probably don’t even know what they are.

            Although the law has been around for a while, it might be getting more attention from Mexican authorities. Riviera Maya News quoted David Ortiz Mena, president of the Tulum Hotel Association, as saying, “Since Covid, it has become a global trend for people to choose to work remotely, which opens up a niche for longer-term tourism. But surprisingly, tourists are charged if they bring in more than one electronic item.”

Are cell phones allowed? Yes, up to three per person. I’m not sure anybody would ever travel with four cell phones, but that fourth one might just get taxed. Boguslavskiy also notes that the increase in device taxation could be the result of people bringing extra devices into Mexico with the intent to sell them on the black market, although he says “that’s not the case with 99% of people bringing a laptop and an iPad.” He says that only two cameras are allowed tax-free, and technically, cigarettes exceeding ten packs can be fined or confiscated. Since there’s a duty-free store right before customs, people stock up on cheap tobacco thinking it’s safe, only to have it seized shortly after the purchase.

It's a lesson for all of us: be aware of local customs rules when we’re traveling. If you’re concerned about taking certain things into a country you plan to visit, let us know, and we’ll help you plan your trip so those nasty extra taxes won’t be hitting your credit card. Give us a call!  

Sue Tindell