Maya Coast Guide

Visitax: Quintana Roo's Tourist Tax for Foreign Visitors Explained

Last updated October 22, 2026 · By Maya Coast Guide Editorial Team

Cancún International Airport terminal, where most visitors arrive in Quintana Roo
Photo: Antony-22 / CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
In this guide
  1. What it is
  2. Who pays
  3. How to pay without getting burned
  4. What to read next

If you are flying into Cancun, Playa del Carmen or Tulum as a foreign visitor, you will run into Visitax: a Quintana Roo state contribution on foreign tourists. Most guides, including our earlier ones, skipped it. It is a small line item, but it is the kind of surprise that annoys people at the airport.

What it is

Visitax is run by the Servicio de Administración Tributaria de Quintana Roo (SATQ). The official portal, visitax.gob.mx, lets you register, pay, and recover your receipt later. It lists support hours of Monday to Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., and a contact email for the tax office.

Who pays

The official site calls it mandatory for foreign tourists. Traveler reports differ on how consistently it is collected at the airport. We would not count on avoiding it, and paying is cheap insurance against a hassle on departure.

How to pay without getting burned

  1. Start at the official domain. Type visitax.gob.mx yourself rather than clicking an ad or a search result.
  2. Ignore look-alike sites. Other domains use the same name and quote their own prices. Do not pay a third party for something the state offers directly.
  3. Check the amount on the official page. The figure is set by the state and has changed, so confirm it when you pay. We deliberately do not print one here.
  4. Keep the receipt. Screenshot it or save the PDF. The site has a “Recover your Receipt” option if you lose it.

Pair this with the Cancun airport transfer guide for the arrival logistics, and the Cancun budget guide for what the rest of the trip costs.

Frequently asked questions

What is Visitax?

Visitax is the Quintana Roo state government's system for collecting a tourism contribution from foreign visitors. Its official site, visitax.gob.mx, is run by the state tax administration (SATQ), and you can pay there and later retrieve your receipt.

Is Visitax mandatory?

The official site describes the contribution as mandatory for foreign tourists. Enforcement at airports has been inconsistent, according to traveler reports, but you should plan to pay it and keep the receipt.

How much is Visitax?

The amount is set by the state and has changed over time, and third-party sites quote different figures, so we do not print a number here. Check the amount on the official site when you pay.

Is visitax.app the official site?

Not as far as we can tell. The official portal is visitax.gob.mx, a state government domain. Look-alike domains exist and may add fees or collect your data, so start from the .gob.mx address.