Playa del Carmen, Quintana Roo — Homeowners who have fallen behind on their property taxes may be able to clear part of the burden this summer under a new municipal tax-relief program offering forgiveness of late-payment surcharges and discounts on certain fines, licenses, permits and other local procedures.
The program, called El Calor de los Descuentos 2026, runs from July 1 through August 31 and was approved unanimously by the Playa del Carmen City Council. Its purpose is to encourage residents and businesses to regularize outstanding municipal obligations while reducing some of the added costs that can accumulate when payments or paperwork are overdue.
For homeowners, the biggest benefit is a 100 percent waiver of surcharges on overdue property taxes from 2023 through 2025. That distinction is important. The municipality is not forgiving the original property tax debt itself. A homeowner who owes several years of predial will still have to pay the underlying tax, but the late-payment surcharges that have accumulated on top of it may be eliminated under the program. For someone who has been behind for several years, that could make a meaningful difference in the final amount due.
The city is also offering 100 percent off surcharges on overdue commercial garbage collection fees, along with discounts of up to 75 percent and 50 percent on certain fines, licenses, permits, regularization procedures and other municipal transactions.
Who Might Benefit?
For residents and property owners, the program could be particularly useful in several situations. Anyone who owns a home or condo and has not paid property tax for one or more years should ask for an updated account statement. Owners of rental properties or local businesses may also want to check whether they have outstanding municipal obligations involving business licenses, commercial garbage collection or other local permits.
The municipality’s online services portal includes procedures for obtaining a certificate of no outstanding property-tax debt, opening or renewing a municipal business license and carrying out other tax and cadastral procedures. (Trámites y Servicios Playa del Carmen)
However, the city has not published one simple English-language master list showing every specific fine, license, permit or regularization procedure that qualifies for the 75 or 50 percent discounts. Property owners should therefore not assume that every outstanding debt or penalty is automatically covered.
The safest approach is to request a written breakdown showing the original amount owed, any fines or surcharges added, the discount being applied under the summer program and the final amount payable.
Where and How to Pay Property Tax
The municipality’s official property-tax page identifies the Dirección de Ingresos, located in the municipal palace on Calle 10 between 20th and 25th avenues in central Playa del Carmen, as the office responsible for property-tax payments. The listed hours are Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on business days.
The municipal website also provides online access to property-tax payment services. For owners who live abroad or spend only part of the year in Mexico, this may be especially relevant. Before paying, it is worth confirming that the account is current, that any applicable surcharge waiver has been applied and that the cadastral information matches the property.
Not the Same as the Early-Payment Discount
The summer relief program should not be confused with Playa del Carmen’s separate early-payment incentives offered at the beginning of 2026.
In January, the municipality offered discounts of 25 percent for payments made between January 1 and 15, 15 percent through January 31 and 10 percent through February 28 for taxpayers paying their 2026 property tax in advance. Those incentives applied to current-year taxes and were separate from the current effort to help people regularize older debts.
The city also approved a separate 50 percent property-tax discount for qualifying people with disabilities, retirees, pensioners and INAPAM cardholders, subject to specific conditions involving the property and taxpayer. For homeowners behind on past payments, however, the summer program is the more immediately relevant opportunity.
The Bottom Line for Property Owners
If you owe predial from 2023, 2024 or 2025, this may be a good time to deal with it. The principal tax remains payable, but eliminating accumulated surcharges can reduce the total considerably, depending on the account. The same advice applies to anyone with overdue municipal paperwork, a business license issue, a fine or another local administrative matter: ask whether the obligation qualifies before assuming it does or does not.
The program remains in effect through August 31, 2026. For homeowners who have been putting off an overdue property-tax bill, waiting much longer may simply mean missing the chance to clear the account without paying the full accumulated surcharges.
