Beach property obligations

Living along the federal zone in Mexico

Mexico's beaches are public land. Twenty meters from mean high tide is the precise measurement for the public lands that adjoin waterways: oceans, rivers, lakes, estuaries and streams.

If you have a beach house you must construct it above the 20 meter mark.

The government can grant a special concession for commercial use of said land if the federal zone agency deems it is in the best socioeconomic interests of the community. Examples are Marinas, hotels, commercial shipping etc. A major criteria for granting commercial use of the federal zone is employment and the resultant economic benefits.

The point of all this, for a foreign owner of beach property, is that you must pay zone taxes on your land adjoining the federal zone and you must also apply for a concession to protect yourself against encroachment by a commercial venture as described in the above paragraph.

Federal zone taxes in Mexico are the same whether you have the concession or not, therefore, why not protect yourself by obtaining the concession? The concession must be applied for with the assist of an engineer licensed to provide the service of federal zone surveying and solicitation of use.

The range of costs for this service, on a lot less than 30 meters wide, is in the fifteen hundred to three thousand dollar range on government fees. Cost differential depends on proximinty to a major city. The more rural and severe the road to access the property the greater the cost.