New Import Permit for Boaters Entering Mexico Resolves Impound Problems Sail-World.com
go to original July 17, 2014

Revamped import permits for boaters entering Mexico were unveiled this month by three federal officials during a boat show seminar in San Diego.

Licenciada Dina Madrid flew up from Mexico City to announce the newly released 10-year Temporary Import Permit (TIP) to a room packed with recreational boaters and marine industry representatives. Last year, problems with the TIP form – which ordinarily allows boaters to keep their vessels in Mexico tax free for up to 10 years – inadvertently lead tax investigators to impound 330 yachts in nine marinas.

Madrid delineated 22 specific changes on the new TIP forms and explained how each improvement now clarifies in English and Spanish some of the more confusing terminology, and how each change corrects past deficiencies.

She explained that one of the first changes is that the vessel owner’s name may be different from the person bringing the boat into Mexico, but the TIP will always be carried in the owner’s name. If ownership changes, the original TIP must be cancelled before the new boat owner can obtain a new 10-year TIP for that vessel. Another major clarification is the difference between the hull identification number (HIN) and the vessel’s state registration or Coast Guard document number. Mistakes in these three areas caused most of the impoundments.

Madrid is a federal liaison officer between the Aduana (Customs) and SAT (Mexico’s IRS), so she is the highest ranking official to represent Mexico’s efforts to resolve the problem. She also announced newly streamlined rules for how U.S. boaters can obtain and renew TIPs in the future. It can be obtained for $45 in advance online, or in person for $51.

Madrid gave boaters a sneak peek at the new English - Spanish website where the new TIPs will be available starting in August, 2014. Lic. Alejandro Santander, Director of the Mexico Consulate, assured the crowd of boaters that Mexico has taken the impound issue seriously and has been working for months on changes to the federal tax and importation laws so this problem doesn’t happen again.

Read the rest at Sail-World.com

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