“CDMX was the country that achieved the first agreement of this type of collaboration in all of Latin America, which was done in 2017. Then came Quintana Roo, where we began collecting taxes on lodging. In the capital, more than 500 million pesos have been collected since 2017,” Terral said in an interview with Expansión.
According to company data, for each reservation made in the capital, around 28% of the total price is withheld and paid monthly to federal and local tax authorities.
“After these two cities, more entities joined and so far we have 16 states where the lodging tax is currently collected,” Terral emphasized. The executive explained that each of the entities has approached the platform to outline the terms and conditions of this retention.
It should be noted that this tax is also retained by hotels and other short-term accommodation platforms in most states, however there is no legal framework where this withholding is allocated to the promotion of tourism in the entities and each of the states defines the destination of its collection to the programs it deems relevant.
Mexico City recently implemented a new regulation that includes, among other things, the creation of a registry of hosts for people and companies that offer short-term tourist stays.
In addition, it requires them to report indicators of use and occupancy and comply with tax obligations in an attempt to address “the problems” of gentrification, rising rents, insecurity, as well as unfair competition and the accumulation of garbage in areas frequented by tourists.
Terral points out that despite the existence of this regulation, within the platform they have records that 80% of the hosts are owners of only one space and in many cases they live in this same home.
“Just over 50% of hosts in Mexico City have said that the income they receive from the platform has helped them keep their mortgages current or manage to cover their expenses,” said the Airbnb executive.
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