We originally started the Ranch El Dorado Home Owners Association as a way to share legal costs when we received letters in 2003 indicating that we had to to pay $3,750 to purchase the land at El Dorado Ranch in San Felipe, Baja California, Mexico that we believed that we already owned.
Our initial goal was to find out what our legal rights were and what we should do to protect our investments, since many of our association members had already built houses on thier land.
With the above concern still being addressed, our ongoing goal is to protect the rights of El Dorado Ranch "land owners". We are a non-profit Mexican association.
URGENT ALERT - TAX NOTICE
If you received a tax notice from El Dorado Ranch, the action you take is up to you. However, before you pay the taxes, please read the below information. Additionally, we encourage you to send the Response from Our Lawyer instead of money because our lawyer has said that we should not ever be paying our taxes to El Dorado Ranch. Instead, taxes should be paid directly to the Mexican government. If you send the letter, make certain you put your address in the Header at the top of the document and type your name under the "Sincerely ," area. As you can see, this letter has already been sent to various Mexican government agencies as well.
What exactly is the tax situation? El Dorado Ranch has sent individuals who paid the $3,750 to "buy" their land a tax notice with a payment deadline of August 15, 2006. When we spoke to the tax office in San Felipe, we were told that El Dorado Ranch is listed as two parcels of land owned by the development company and that the Mexican government does not recognize that any individuals own land at El Dorado Ranch. We were also told that the Mexican government does not send out tax bills. Instead, land owners are responsible for taking the initiative to go to the tax office to pay the tax bill, without receiving notice. When we spoke to our lawyer, he indicated that taxes should only be paid directly to the Mexican government.
Our take on the tax situation is this:
- Although El Dorado Ranch "land owners" paid $3,750 to "buy" their land, their names are only on El Dorado Ranch documentation at HSBC, not on any legal documentation with the Mexican government.
- The Mexican government holds the developer of El Dorado Ranch responsible for taxes, since this is who they have listed as the legal owners of the El Dorado Ranch land.
- El Dorado Ranch is passing the tax cost to the "land owners", with additional administration fees, but the "land owners" are not technically liable for the taxes (since the government does not recognize them as the legal owners of the land).
Below is supporting documentation regarding the tax situation:
This web site is the property of Asociación de Colonos de Rancho El Dorado, A.C. and is not affiliated with the El Dorado Ranch development in any way |
