Cozumel customs camera charges have triggered a formal response from Mexican authorities, with the island’s Director of Customs removed from post following viral complaints that travellers were being taxed on personal photography equipment they already owned and were carrying out of the country.
The case gaining most attention involves Jennifer Ackerman, who goes by Scuba Chick on Facebook, and who describes being charged $400 USD in import tax on her underwater camera kit at Cozumel International Airport. Her original Facebook post has since reached more than 85,000 views, drawing a wider response from travellers and local stakeholders alike.
What Ackerman Was Charged and Why It Is Disputed
Ackerman had travelled to Cozumel with her teenage son. Her equipment comprised one interchangeable-lens camera body, one underwater housing, and three lenses. On departure, Customs classified the kit as ‘excess PROFESSIONAL underwater photography equipment’ and applied a 19% tax charge. The documentation she received did not specify which item was deemed to have exceeded the allowable threshold.
She had come prepared. Ackerman presented the original tax receipt showing she had paid 6,641 pesos for the camera, housing, and lenses on a previous purchase, along with inbound and return flight information confirming the equipment was leaving Mexico with her. She also produced a Mexican Customs receipt from 2024 showing she had owned the same underwater housing and strobes two years prior, as well as two printed handouts from Customs itself stating that luggage may contain ‘two photographic or recording cameras; photographic equipment, and accessories.’
None of it was accepted. When she asked to speak with a supervisor at 3 PM on a Friday, she was told none was available. ‘There was no alternate office, no supervisor available, I directly asked to speak to one, no written appeal procedure provided and no practical recourse. I was simply told to keep the receipt and bring it the next time I visit Mexico,’ Ackerman wrote in her post. She had been advised to return the following Monday to contest the charge, but her outbound flight departed that same Friday, making that impossible.
Mexico’s Import Tax Framework and the $500 Allowance
Under Mexico’s Servicio de Administración Tributaria customs rules, travellers arriving by air receive an allowance of up to $500 USD for taxable goods. Items exceeding that value attract a flat 19% tax rate, calculated on a customs value that includes the price of goods plus shipping and insurance to the Mexican port of entry. An administrative processing fee of 0.8% of the customs value applies, alongside a 16% value-added tax on the cumulative total.
The difficulty in Ackerman’s case is that the paperwork issued to her did not make clear which specific piece of equipment, if any, was deemed to have exceeded the $500 USD threshold. Without that breakdown, the basis for the 19% charge cannot be verified against the stated rules.
Ackerman has urged other travellers heading to Mexico to exercise caution if carrying cameras, lenses, underwater housings, strobes, drones, dive computers, tablets, laptops, or other electronics. ‘My conclusion from this experience is that travelers cannot assume the written baggage allowance will be applied consistently, even when they are carrying personal equipment, remain within the stated number of cameras, and can prove that everything is leaving the country with them,’ she wrote.
Cozumel customs camera charges draw official response
The political fallout has been swift. Alex Zaytsev, an underwater photographer based in Cozumel, posted that an official statement was submitted to the relevant authorities and placed before the Governor of the state, who ordered the removal of the Director of Customs in Cozumel as a result.
‘As soon as we became aware of these incidents, we submitted an official statement to the appropriate authorities. That document is now on the Governor’s desk, and yesterday she took decisive action by ordering the removal of the Director of Customs in Cozumel. We know this is only the first step,’ Zaytsev wrote. He added: ‘We stand with you in firmly rejecting any practice that damages the trust of our visitors. We sincerely apologise to those who have experienced this unacceptable situation.’
Ackerman also noted in her post that an ‘insider’ had told her that Mexican customs is targeting US-bound flights, though she stressed this has not been confirmed. For travel agents and operators building itineraries through Mexico’s federal authorities, the episode underlines the risk of passengers carrying professional or semi-professional equipment being caught by inconsistent enforcement at the border, regardless of what documentation they hold. IATA guidance on passenger rights at customs does not override individual member states’ border procedures, leaving travellers with limited formal recourse when on-the-ground practice diverges from published rules.
The Customs Director’s removal, described by Zaytsev as ‘only the first step’, is the most concrete outcome so far. Whether it produces consistent application of the published allowances at Cozumel International Airport will be watched closely by dive operators and photography professionals who depend on the destination.
