2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY-THREE - Public Planning and Development (§§ 1 — 11273) › PART IX - Economic Development II (§§ 11001 — 11273) › Chapter 251 - Puerto Rico Film Industry Economic Incentives Act (§§ 11001 — 11008c) › Subchapter II - Administration (§§ 11002 — 11002d) › § 11002 - Grants in general

(a) The Secretary of Development may issue grants upon such terms and conditions as he/she deems necessary or convenient to further the purposes of this chapter. To benefit from the provisions of this chapter, it shall be necessary to obtain a grant. Any person engaged in a film project, an infrastructure project or a large-scale studio operator or a studio operator, may submit to the Secretary of Development an application for a grant in a form to be provided by the Secretary of Development. The information and documents furnished in such application shall be treated as confidential and may only be disclosed to third parties with the previous consent of the grantee, except as necessary to enforce the provisions of the grant, this chapter or any other law.
(b) The Secretary of Development shall notify the Secretary of the Treasury of his/her intention to issue a grant and shall submit a copy of the appropriate application to the Secretary of the Treasury. The Secretary of the Treasury shall have a term of fifteen (15) working days to submit comments regarding the application for a grant. Such term shall be deemed to be interrupted if the Secretary of the Treasury requires additional information. However, whenever such term is so interrupted and the information required is furnished, the Secretary of the Treasury shall only have the remaining days of the fifteen (15)-day working period to endorse or oppose the grant. In the case of a grant that entails the granting of credits, the Secretary of the Treasury shall certify the availability thereof prior to their granting. This certification shall be a necessary requirement for the granting of credits under a grant. Once said term has expired, the Secretary of Development shall issue the same.
(c) Grants issued in connection with film projects and infrastructure projects may be effective before the grant application filing and shall have a term equal to the life of the project. Grants issued to studio operators or large-scale studio operators shall have a term of fifteen (15) years.
(d) Any large-scale studio operator may apply for an extension of its grant for an additional term of ten (10) years, under the same terms and conditions of such grant in effect as of the date of the application for an extension, including the income tax rate and exemptions on property, municipal license and other taxes provided thereunder. The application shall be made within the eighteen (18) months prior to the date prescribed by law for filing the last income tax return corresponding to the year in which its grant would expire. The same shall include such information, data, and evidence that shows it has complied and shall continue to comply with all the applicable provisions of law, including the terms and conditions of its grant. In the event that the grantee has an outstanding debt with the Government of Puerto Rico, the application for the extension of the grant shall be denied until such debt is paid in full.
(e) A large-scale studio operator who holds a grant shall have the option to choose the specific taxable years to be covered thereunder as to their income taxes, municipal license taxes, and/or property taxes when so notified to the Secretary of the Treasury, the municipality or the Municipal Revenues Collection Center, as applicable, and the Secretary of Development not later than the date prescribed by law to file their income tax return for such taxable year, municipal license statement or personal property tax return, including any extensions granted therefor. In the case of real property taxes, the Municipal Revenue Collection Center shall be notified sixty (60) days before January first (1st) of the fiscal year in which such option is to be exercised. Once a large-scale studio operator opts for this benefit, the exemption period corresponding to such operator shall be extended for the number of taxable years in which such exemption was not enjoyed under the grant.
(f) Grants issued under the provisions of this chapter shall be transferable, subject to the authorization of the Secretary of Development.
(g) Grants awarded in accordance with this chapter shall require grantees’ compliance with the governing principles listed in § 11002a-1 of this title.
History —Mar. 4, 2011, No. 27, § 3.1; Dec. 28, 2016, No. 208, § 26.