If you're flying home from Cancun, the Visitax could be the last surprise of your trip. Travelers at Cancun International Airport say collectors working inside the terminal pressured them to pay the state's tourist tax on the way out, and some say they were charged up to 550 pesos per person, roughly $30, according to the Mexican newspaper Por Esto. The tax itself is real and mandatory, but its official rate for 2026 is under 300 pesos, about $16.
What Travelers Say Happened
Visitors told Por Esto they were stopped at collection points inside the airport and asked to pay the tax before going through, often without having heard of it before. Some described the collectors' approach as intimidating, and the amounts they were asked for were well above the published rate. A video of travelers confronting collectors at the airport has been circulating online this week.
Quintana Roo's tourism secretary, Bernardo Cueto, acknowledged the complaints about how collectors were behaving and said the state is reviewing the process with its finance department. For now, the tax is staying and the collection points remain open.
What the Visitax Is
The Visitax is a tourist tax charged by the state of Quintana Roo, which includes Cancun, Tulum, Playa del Carmen, Cozumel and Isla Mujeres. Every foreign visitor is supposed to pay it once per trip, including children, and it isn't included in your plane ticket or, in most cases, your hotel bill. It's been mandatory since 2021, but for years it was barely checked, which is why so many travelers have never heard of it.
That has changed this year. Travelers have reported more checks at Cancun's airport this fall, with staff in official vests asking people for proof of payment before security. If you haven't paid, you can pay on the spot, but that's where the problems in this week's reports started.
How to Pay the Right Amount
The simplest way to avoid trouble is to pay before you get to the airport. The official site is visitax.gob.mx, and you can pay there by card in a few minutes for everyone in your group. Save the QR code you receive as a screenshot, since airport Wi-Fi can be unreliable when someone asks to see it.
Be careful about where you pay. Quintana Roo has warned about fake Visitax websites that look official and charge extra, so type the address yourself instead of clicking an ad or a link from a search result. If you're asked to pay at the airport, check that the amount matches the official rate for your group before handing over any money, and ask for a receipt. If you've already paid online, show your QR code and you shouldn't have to pay again.
