2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE THIRTEEN - Taxation and Finance (§§ 1 — 33423) › Subtitle 17 - Internal Revenue Code of 2011 (§§ 30001 — 33423) › PART VII - Administrative Provisions, Procedures, Interests, Penalties, and Additions to Taxes (§§ 33001 — 33423) › Chapter 1066 - Procedures for Demand for Payment, Attachment, and Sale of Taxpayer’s Property (§§ 33261 — 33280) › § 33262 - Procedures for attachment of personal and real property

(a) Immediately after the terms granted in this Code have expired, the Secretary shall dictate a written notice of attachment, which shall state the amount owed by the taxpayer, and he/she shall proceed to attach the delinquent debtor’s property. Such notice shall state the amount of taxes, levies, fines, interest, surcharges, and penalties due and unpaid, and the amount of the fees for the dunning agent, as provided further.
(b) The Secretary shall notify the debtor by giving him/her a copy of the notice and apprising him/her that if he/she does not pay the taxes in full within a term of thirty (30) days from the date of notice, the property thus attached or the part thereof which is strictly sufficient to pay off the debt, shall be sold at public auction as soon as possible after such term without further notice.
(c) If any debtor or any of his/her relatives or dependents refuses to surrender to the Secretary the attached property upon demand once the thirty (30)-day term set forth above has expired, or if after having executed the attachment, he/she sells, conceals, destroys, cedes, assigns, or otherwise transfers said property with the purpose of rendering the attachment void or evading the payment of taxes, he/she shall be guilty of a third-degree felony.
(d) The attachment shall be executable as soon as notice has been given by giving a copy of the notice to the debtor or any family member in charge of such property.
(e) If the Secretary is unable to find the debtor or any family member in charge of such property, he/she shall give notice of the attachment to the debtor by certified mail with acknowledgment of receipt to the debtor’s address appearing in or surmised from the documents, records, or database of the Department in the Collections District where the attachment is to be executed and attachment notice is served in the manner stated above, shall constitute prima facie evidence that said delinquent taxpayer was notified about the attachment, and notice in any of such manners shall be as valid and effective as if received personally by the debtor.
(f) As soon as the attachment notice is served in the manner set forth above, the Secretary shall be empowered to seize the attached property or close down the business or premises if he/she deems it necessary. Upon serving the attachment notice, the Secretary shall be empowered to enter the home or residence of the debtor if necessary and if such debtor agrees, and in the event that he/she does not give his/her consent, a court of justice shall be requested to issue an order authorizing the entry into the home or residence of the debtor with the sole purpose of serving the notice mentioned above.
(g) If any debtor or his/her family members or dependents under the circumstances described in subsection (f) offers any resistance to any official of the Department after the court order has been shown, he/she shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.
(h) It shall be the duty of police authorities or its officers to assist the Secretary to the extent necessary in order for the Secretary to properly discharge his/her duties as required under this Code.
(i) The attached property may be deposited, as soon as the notice of attachment has been served, in the possession of any person who assumes the obligation of keeping such property at the disposal of the Secretary until the debtor pays the taxes in full or the sale at public auction is conducted; and if any depositary of attached property disposes of such property, he/she shall be guilty of a third-degree felony.
(j) When the personal property is attached or when notice is served on the debtor or his/her family members or dependents as provided in this Code, the Secretary may collect, in addition to assessed debts, interest, surcharges, and penalties, an amount sufficient to defray the costs for custody and deposit of the property thus attached, together with fees for an amount equal to ten percent (10%) of the amount of the principal of the taxes owed, without including surcharges, which shall be paid to the dunning agent who served the notice or covered into the General Fund if notice was served by the Secretary or another employee of the Government of Puerto Rico.
History —Jan. 31, 2011, No. 1, § 6060.02, retroactive to Jan. 1, 2011.