TIJUANA- There was a lot of confusion and anger over the weekend after a Tijuana-based weekly falsely reported that Mexican customs had reduced the amount of dollars worth in goods citizens from the border region can cross back into Mexico, tariff-free.

There are indeed changes that customs has placed on most Mexican citizens returning via land ports-of-entry, but there are exceptions for border residents. For most Mexicans, the limit was lowered to only $75 USD per person each day during most of the year (there's also a special holiday season limit, which we'll explain later on), starting on November 1st, 2013.

Mexican citizens can only transport back south a certain amount of dollars worth in goods without being required to pay import taxes on products bought at U.S. stores, such as articles of clothing, electronics, groceries, among other. Shopping in San Diego is a regular, and somewhat necessary, part of life for thousands of residents in Baja.

That amount still is set at $150 per person for all border residents, i.e. those living in Baja California, Baja California Sur, Sonora and other states near the southern border with Central America. Since most of the time entire families are crossing back and forth when going out to buy goods, customs sets a vehicular limit of $400.

This is what the official customs web site has to say about border residents and the amount they can buy before having to pay taxes:

"1. The value of the merchandise must not exceed the daily equivalent, in Mexican or any foreign currency, of 150 dollars, in the case of adult border residents that enter national soil via private vehicle and if more than two residents from the border area are traveling with it, the value of the merchandise they import together must not exceed the equivalent in foreign or Mexican currency of 400 dollars.

2. The following merchandise are not exempt from taxes: alcoholic beverages, beer, Tobacco in cigars or cigarettes, automotive fuel save for any contained within the vehicle's fuel tank and complies with the maker's specifications."

In fact, Mexican residents are about to have their import limit raised in time for the holiday shopping season. Each year, customs raises the dollar amount limit to $300 per person, from November 1st 2013 to January 8th, 2014 for "passengers of Mexican nationality that enter the country via land."

Although in the end this turned out to be not much of a change, the report of the Mexican government limiting border resident's shopping fed into the already tense narrative about a central government not paying attention to the needs and economic realities of border residents, especially after the recent passage of the elimination of several tax privileges border residents had compared with the rest of the country, which most argued allowed them to more easily compete with U.S. businesses.

For more information, visit Aduanas.gob.mx

Brenda.Colon@sandiegored.com

jose.sanchez@sandiegored.com