Back in the sixties it was the time of the “Mexican Miracle”, and the international community recognized the economic strenght of the country by choosing it to organize both the Olympic Games and the FIFA World Cup. But even a “miracle” has its limits, and the Federal Government asked for “help” to its people.
That “help” came in the form of a new, original and unheard tax: the infamous “tenencia”, a yearly tax for owning a car.
The idea was that with the money collected from that tax, the government would build new stadiums and facilities needed for the Olympic Games. Mexico '68 came and went, and even when the Games were a huge success, the “tenencia” proved to be a resilient tax which the Mexican people had to cope with for the next four decades.
2012 was supposed to be the year when Mexicans would finally get rid of the “tenencia”, as last year was issued a federal decree all but eliminating in practice this unpopular tax. The only loose end of the decree was that the states got the freedom to impose a similar tax on the cars registered in their own territories.
The crisis and the weak finances of the states have already resulted in at least 15 states announcing that they will charge a car ownership tax. Nayarit is one of those states, while Jalisco has opted not to charge for owning a car. It may have something to do with the fact that 2012 is an electoral year in Jalisco, so who knows what will happen next year...?
