Tulum is forgiving half the penalties on old property tax debt until September 29

Tulum's city council approved a property tax discount package that cuts 50 percent off the penalties on overdue bills, with a September 29 deadline for the roughly 30,000 properties behind on payment.

None of it applies yet. Municipal treasurer Raziel Ek Cruz said the program only takes effect once it is published in the Periódico Oficial del Estado, which he expects this week. From that date, it runs until September 29.

What separates this package from the discounts Tulum rolls out every January is who it was built for. Ek Cruz told the council's 46th ordinary session that roughly half the properties on the municipal roll carry arrears on the tax locals call the predial, about 30,000 of them. For the first time, the reductions reach back into that old debt instead of stopping at the current year.

What the property tax discount takes off a Tulum bill

The package is a list of percentages, and each one attaches to a different line on a municipal account.

• 25 percent off property tax owed for previous fiscal years, and 15 percent off the 2026 bill.
• 30 percent off surcharges on the property acquisition tax, known as ISABI.
• 50 percent off fines and surcharges tied to property tax debt from earlier years.
• 60 percent off fines and surcharges on the garbage collection fee.
• 50 percent off other municipal fees.

The ISABI reduction touches only the surcharges, not the tax itself. ISABI is the levy a buyer pays when a property changes hands, and for many foreign owners in Tulum it is the first Mexican tax they ever deal with. The announcement did not itemize which other municipal fees fall under the additional 50 percent reduction.

Half the town's lots are behind

Ek Cruz put the number of properties carrying some arrears at about 30,000, close to half of everything registered in the municipality. By that arithmetic, the roll runs to roughly 60,000 properties.

Debt of this kind does not sit still. An unpaid property tax bill becomes a fiscal credit, and accrues surcharges month after month, so an owner who ignored a 2021 statement owes considerably more today than the original figure. The 50 percent cut on those penalties is where the real money sits for anyone in that position, and municipal authorities closed the session by urging residents to stop the surcharges from compounding further.

Absentee owners are the group most likely to be surprised. Someone who bought a lot in a development outside the town center and never returned may have no idea a balance exists until they try to sell, because a Mexican notary requires a certificate showing no outstanding property tax before a transfer can be registered.

Mayor Diego Castañón Trejo framed the timing around the calendar rather than the balance sheet. The discounts land in low season, he said, when money is tighter across Tulum, and the municipality wants people to use the window to get current. He added that municipal offices will stay open to anyone who wants to sort out their situation.

Ek Cruz says old debt was never included before

The treasurer described the inclusion of prior-year balances as a measure without precedent in Tulum. By his account, earlier rounds of incentives left that debt untouched.

Previous programs worked on the opposite logic. In January, the city opened the fiscal year with discounts of up to 30 percent for paying the 2026 bill early, plus a raffle for a car, a structure that rewards owners who were already paying on schedule. The 30,000 accounts that had stopped paying had nothing to claim.

162 million pesos against a 211 million target

Tulum has collected close to 162 million pesos in property tax so far this year against an annual goal of 211 million, Ek Cruz said. That is about 77 percent of the target with five months of the fiscal year left.

The gap is 49 million pesos.

It is also the hardest part of the year to close. Property tax collection is front-loaded by design, since the January discounts pull compliant owners in during the first quarter, which leaves the arrears file as the largest untapped pool on the books. Ek Cruz said he expects the incentives to carry collection past what was budgeted by the close of the exercise.

Across all revenue lines, the Treasury reports a global take near 700 million pesos, a figure the treasurer said keeps the municipality inside its financial targets for the year.

The clock starts at the state gazette

One procedural step remains. Until the Periódico Oficial del Estado publishes the resolution, the discounts do not legally exist and no counter in Tulum can apply them. Ek Cruz expects that publication within days.

After that, owners have until September 29. Anyone who lets the date pass keeps the full debt and the surcharges that keep building on top of it.

Would a 50 percent cut on penalties be enough to get you to settle an old property tax bill in Tulum? Join the conversation and share your perspective with us on Instagram and Facebook at @thetulumtimes.