US Dollar Payout in Mexico

[Abdiel14]

Hi fellow hosts,

I am fairly new to Airbnb. I have a condominium in Rosarito Mexico. It's close to the border and my vendors ask that I pay them in dollars. I started Airbnb with a Mexican Bank Account and they send me my payouts and I receive them in Mexican Pesos. I then have to go withdraw the Pesos and convert them into US Dollars to pay my vendors in Mexico. It a pain to have to drive out there to do that.

I opened a bank account that only receives dollars and I can withdraw dollars but for some reason Airbnb says that the bank declines the deposites. I spoke to the bank and they say they don't see any issues on their end.

I have set up the settings for the payout to be in dollars and spoken to the Airbnb Customer Service team but they have not been able to help.

I can't believe that I would be the only host experiencing this issue so I thought I would ask the community. Has anybody had any experience with this? How did you resolve it? What bank did you use? Thank you so much!

[Quincy]

Hi @Abdiel14 

Welcome to the Community ⭐

I've tagged a few hosts that might be able to help:

@Karen3152 @Mehdi307 @R110 @Patrick2862 @Rich4169 

While we wait for their input, you might find this post about  payout methods on a property in Mexico helpful.

We do also have a Spanish Community that may be able to help support you.

Quincy

[Karen3152]

@Abdiel14 From my point of view, your vendors are the problem.  They cannot give you facturas so that you can write off the expenses on your Mexican taxes.  They are trying to avoid reporting their income to the Mexican government by requiring you to pay in U.S. dollars.  This is causing a problem for you because the Mexican bank will not allow you to operate a for-profit Mexican business in US dollars.  Most Mexican banks will allow you to open a peso account as well as a US dollar account.  You can have AirBnb send the money to the peso account and then transfer to the US dollar account if you really want to continue working with people who are screwing you out of your Mexican tax write-off. However, I realize that in some areas, you have no choice because that is how all the vendors operate.  It sounds like they want you to pay them in cash as well. I have been surprised at how much credit I get with the Mexican government I get by operating under their rules.  When my accountant did my taxes, I got over $600 USD credit, but I have to pay my account close to $100 USD every month to file my taxes.  However, I do have to constantly hound the vendors for a factura. They don’t want to do it.  Things need to change in Mexico.  I will never get used to how difficult it is to operate there.  I have to beg their white collar and government workers for months over snd over and over again to do their jobs.  The laborers are the backbone of that country. I had to beg the bank that holds my fideicomiso for three months to give me a factura under my RFC.  I hate the Notary, taxes, banks, facturas, high accountant fees system in Mexico.  IT SUCKS!!!

[Abdiel14]

Thank you Quincy,

Thank you @Karen3152 

Yes, it's not easy for sure. I barely started about 4 months ago and have been going through the learning pains of doing business in Mexico. I feel like I have so much to learn still.

I figured it would save me so much time and money if I can get paid in US Dollars in the Mexican bank account. I do have the two accounts set up right now, one with pesos and the other for dollars but then the bank gets you there with a really bad conversion rate. It's a pain either way I go.

Thank you, Karen, once again for your insights.

[Karen3152]

Maybe another option.  If the vendors want to be paid in US dollars, do they have US bank accounts in the US?  Then you can pay them with Zelle or Venmo, etc.  If your vendors live in Mexico, they are going to exchange US dollars for pesos so they can more easily spend the money.  Have them tell you what you owe in USD but agree to a web site exchange rate quote that you can agree that you will always use and pay them in pesos.  Right now, the exchange rate is really good for the amount of pesos you get for the dollar, but when it goes the other way, they lose taking the US dollars to the bank to exchange.  They will do better either way with an exchange rate web site because you will always give them a better rate than the bank.  Here is one I use: https://www.exchangerates.org.uk/USD-MXN-exchange-rate-history.html

[Will4127]

Hi Karen do you have a recommended accountant or law firm that can help you obtain an RFC number as a foreigner? Thanks! 

[Brent410]

just send money to a US bank