2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY-THREE - Public Planning and Development (§§ 1 — 11273) › PART VI - Tourism (§§ 6001 — 6982i) › Chapter 155A - Ports Authority Fund (§§ 6861 — 6861j) › § 6861b - Establishment of incentives for cruise ship companies or operators

(a) Cruise ship companies or operators that visit any port in the jurisdiction of Puerto Rico may be eligible for the following benefits:
(1) Cruise ship company incentive:
(A) Four dollars and ninety five cents ($4.95) shall be deducted from the thirteen dollars and twenty-five cents ($13.25) head passenger tax imposed per passenger as fixed by the head or administrative authorities of the ports of Puerto Rico. This incentive shall apply to the first one hundred and forty thousand (140,000) passengers arriving to any port of Puerto Rico in cruise ships of the company within the twelve (12) month period of the fiscal year, beginning in Fiscal Year 2011-2012. Likewise, the amount of seven dollars and forty-five cents ($7.45) per passenger shall be deducted, when the company has exceeded such number of passengers. If the head passenger tax of a port is different from that of the incentive, the lower amount shall apply. If the fixed official head passenger tax is reduced, the incentive provided herein shall be reduced proportionately.
(B) The funds required to grant the incentives hereunder shall originate from the Authority Fund and shall be administered by the Ports Authority.
(2) Home port frequent visit incentive:
(A) One dollar ($1.00) per passenger shall be contributed to cruise ship companies or operators that use any port in the jurisdiction of Puerto Rico as home port. Two dollars ($2.00) per passenger after the twenty-first (21st) visit of the cruise ship company within a fiscal year period, beginning in Fiscal Year 2011-2012. Once the fiscal-year visits of the cruise ship company exceed one hundred and twenty (120) within a fiscal-year period, the cruise ship company shall receive a contribution of four dollars ($4.00) per passenger after visit number sixty-one (61).
(B) The funds for the incentives to be provided hereunder shall originate from the Authority Fund and be administered by the Ports Authority.
(3) Cruise ship home port bilateral marketing program:
(A) A Bilateral Marketing Program between the Puerto Rico Tourism Company and the eligible cruise ship company (hereinafter “the Marketing Program”) shall be created for the purpose of placing Puerto Rico as the home port of the Caribbean and incentivize its worldwide demand. To each Marketing Program, the sum of one dollar ($1.00) shall be contributed per passenger in cruise ships departing from any port of the jurisdiction of Puerto Rico during the fiscal-year period beginning in Fiscal Year 2011-2012; Provided, That to qualify for such incentive, the cruise ship company shall contribute to its Marketing Program a percentage of the amount of the incentive claimed, as prescribed through regulation by the Tourism Company pursuant to this chapter.
(B) The funds required to grant the incentives hereunder shall originate from the Company Fund, and the Marketing Program shall be administered by the Puerto Rico Tourism Company.
(4) Port of call incentive:
(A) The sum of one dollar ($1.00) per passenger shall be contributed to ships docking at any port of the jurisdiction of Puerto Rico for at least eight (8) hours and pay the applicable tax to said port during a fiscal-year period, beginning in Fiscal Year 2011-2012.
(B) The funds required to grant the incentives hereunder shall originate from the Authority Fund, and shall be administered by the Ports Authority.
(5) Supplies and services incentive:
(A) Every cruise ship that docks at any port within the jurisdiction of Puerto Rico shall be eligible to receive an incentive equal to ten percent (10%) of the expenses incurred in the purchase of supplies and/or contracting maintenance or repair services of the cruise ship in Puerto Rico, excluding materials, goods, or equipment installed as a result of such service, as specified in the regulation adopted by the Tourism Company. An additional five-percent (5%) tax shall be offered for the acquisition of goods manufactured in Puerto Rico as certified by the Puerto Rico Industrial Development Company, or agricultural products of Puerto Rico as certified by the Department of Agriculture.
(B) The services contemplated herein shall exclude docking services required by the cruise ships in each port of call.
(C) Cruise ship owners or operators that comply with these provisions shall receive these benefits after presenting evidence, to the satisfaction of the aforementioned agencies, that the purchases were made from companies in which fifty percent (50%) or more of their shareholders or owners reside in Puerto Rico or fifty percent (50%) or more of the sold goods are manufactured thereby. In the case of companies engaged in the rendering of services, as defined in the regulation of the Trade and Export Company, the employees rendering such services shall reside in Puerto Rico. Transshipment or transfer of goods directly to cruise ships from ports where ships carrying food or beverages dock shall not constitute an activity incentivized or eligible for this incentive. Vendors and service providers shall also be certified by the Puerto Rico Trade and Export and regulations.
(D) The funds required to grant the incentives provided hereunder shall originate from the Company Fund.
(b) To ensure the fiscal soundness and reliability of the incentives program, it shall be effective for only three (3) years, until Fiscal Year 2013-2014, after which term it may be reevaluated and extended by means of legislation.
(c) It is hereby expressly provided that the incentives listed herein shall apply exclusively to eligible cruise ships that use any port within the jurisdiction of Puerto Rico.
(d) The incentives herein provided shall be granted by the Puerto Rico Tourism Company or the Puerto Rico Ports Authority, as the case may be, to the appropriate company, operator or agent within a term that shall not exceed thirty (30) days after submitting the invoices, according to the corresponding regulation, claiming the incentives listed herein; Provided, That, should the Puerto Rico Tourism Company or the Puerto Rico Ports Authority be in disagreement with regard to any invoice item, such disagreement shall not prevent the payment of any other item in the invoice that has not been objected. Likewise, the Puerto Rico Tourism Company or the Puerto Rico Ports Authority shall be responsible for notifying the entity that submitted the invoice within said thirty (30) day period about any objection to any invoice item stating the reasons that support the objection.
History —July 4, 2011, No. 113, § 5.