2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY-ONE - Municipalities (§§ 1-4 — 6756) › Subtitle 7 - Municipal Property Tax (§§ 5001 — 6756) › PART I (§§ 5001 — 5252) › Chapter 249 - System of Self-Determination as to the Personal Property Tax (§§ 5201 — 5240) › § 5207 - Deficiencies—Collection after appeal

(a) General rule.— If the taxpayer were to appeal before the Court of First Instance against a final determination of deficiency and said court were to issue a judgment declaring it has no jurisdiction to take cognizance of the matter or to determine that a deficiency does exist, the deficiency determined by the court, as the case may be, shall be appraised once the judgment is firm and final, and it shall be paid through notice and requirement of the Collection Center or its representative. No part of the amount determined as a deficiency by the Collection Center, but refused as such by a final and firm judgment of the Court of First Instance, shall be appraised or collected through a legal collection procedure or through a court procedure, with or without an appraisal.
(b) In case of appeal.— When a taxpayer appeals the judgement of the Court of First Instance determining a deficiency, he/she shall be bound to pay the total deficiency so determined within the term for an appeal, and noncompliance with said payment requirement, except as provided below in subsections (c) and (d) of this section, shall deprive the Supreme Court of the power to take cognizance of the appeal on its merits. Should the Supreme Court resolve that the deficiency determined by the Court of First Instance or part thereof does not exist, and the taxpayer has paid said deficiency partially or totally upon appeal, the Collection Center shall proceed to reimburse the proper amount, charged to any of its available funds, pursuant to the Supreme Court judgment, plus the annual interest provided by law on the total to be reimbursed computed from the date of payment. Should the Collection Center appeal the judgment of the Court of First Instance determining that no deficiency exists in whole or in part, or if the taxpayer has appealed without having paid the total tax, in any of these cases in which the Supreme Court judgment is favorable to the Collection Center, the deficiency determined on appeal or the unpaid part thereof shall be appraised and shall be paid through notice and requirement of the Collection Center.
(c) In the case of a taxpayer who has appealed the judgment of the Court of First Instance determining a deficiency and who cannot comply with the requirement of paying the deficiency, or can only pay part of the deficiency, the Court of First Instance may direct that the appeal follow its course until a final disposition of the same on its merits has been reached without the total payment of said deficiency; provided, that the appeal involves a substantial matter, and subject to that which is provided below. In such a case, the taxpayer shall file in the Court of First Instance a sworn petition together with his writ of appeal stating the reasons why he/she cannot pay the deficiency in whole or in part, and the grounds for the basis of the allegation that the appeal involves a substantial matter. Should the Court of First Instance determine that the taxpayer cannot pay the deficiency, or can only pay a part thereof, and that the appeal involves a substantial matter, it shall direct, in lieu of the total payment, as the case may be:
(1) That the appeal follow its course under the bond posted in order to resort to the Court of First Instance should it be sufficient to answer for the deficiency which is definitely determined and for the interest thereof; or
(2) that the taxpayer post a new bond to the satisfaction of the Court in an amount sufficient to answer for the deficiency and the interest thereof for a reasonable period, or
(3) that the taxpayer pay part of the deficiency and secure the unpaid portion in any manner previously provided in clauses (1) and (2) of this subsection.
(d) Should the Court of First Instance determine that the taxpayer is able to pay the deficiency, or part thereof, or that he/she must post a bond, the taxpayer shall proceed with the payment of the deficiency, or the determined part thereof, or post the bond within the term of thirty (30) days from the date the resolution of the Court of First Instance to that effect was served, and the payment of the deficiency, or of the determined part, or the posting of the bond within said term, will perfect the appeal for all legal purposes. Should the taxpayer not pay within the said thirty (30)-day term, nor not post the required bond, the Supreme Court will not have the power to hear the appeal on its merits and the aforesaid will be dismissed. The resolutions of the Court of First Instance dictated under the provisions of subsections (c) and (d) of this section shall not be appealable although any party may request through a writ of certiorari that the Supreme Court review same within ten (10) days from the date of notice of any of the aforesaid resolutions.
History —Aug. 30, 1991, No. 83, § 6.07.