2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE THIRTEEN - Taxation and Finance (§§ 1 — 33423) › Subtitle 5 - Inheritance and Gift Taxes (§§ 881 — 906) › Chapter 91 - Inheritance and Gift Taxes (§§ 881 — 906) › § 901 - Proceedings without tax receipts; prohibited

Except in such special cases as are determined in § 894 of this title, and except when, in the judgment of the Secretary of the Treasury, the taxpayer may sufficiently guarantee the taxes on gifts or inheritance imposed by this act, no court shall approve the partition or distribution of the estate of any decedent nor allow any final settlement of the accounts of any executor, administrator, trustee, or person administering any estate, unless the special receipt or receipts as provided in § 900 of this title have been produced and exhibited; and no notary shall issue, authorize, or certify instrument of award, partition or distribution, alienation, or hypothecation of property unless such receipt or receipts issued by the Secretary of the Treasury are presented; and no registrar of property shall record in the registry books under his charge any instrument or judicial decision, ruling, or judicial warrant authorized, rendered, or issued in connection with the partition, distribution, or delivery of such property unless such receipt or receipts issued by the Secretary of the Treasury have been presented; and every notary authorizing any instrument of gift inter vivos shall notify the Secretary of the Treasury thereof within the term of five (5) days after the instrument is executed, and no registrar of property shall record in the registry books under his charge any gift inter vivos unless there is presented the receipt issued by the Secretary of the Treasury, showing that the tax on said gift has been paid; and no banking institution shall deliver to the heirs more than ten percent (10%) of the total funds belonging to a decedent unless the delivery of a larger portion is authorized by the Secretary of the Treasury or the receipts provided for under § 900 of this title are presented at the bank; and no entity engaged in insurance business shall surrender to the beneficiaries of any insurance policy or contract any amount in excess of three thousand five hundred (3,500) dollars or of twenty-five percent (25%) of the total cash amount of the insurance policies and contracts issued by it on the life of an insured, or of both amounts whichever is the greater, unless the receipts provided for under § 900 of this title have been presented to said entity; and said entities shall, at the time payment is made, serve written notice thereon on the Secretary of the Treasury, with the names of the beneficiaries who received it, and the additional amount, if any, remaining due to the beneficiaries under the insurance policies and contracts issued on the life of such insured. Violators of the provisions of this section shall be liable for all taxes uncollected because of such violation, with interest thereon, as provided in § 898 of this title, and they shall be guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of not less than one hundred (100) nor more than one thousand (1,000) dollars, or by imprisonment in jail for a term of not less than three months nor more than one year, or by both penalties, in the discretion of the court; Provided, That heirs who, without authorization of the Secretary of the Treasury or without having presented the proper receipts, withdraw from a bank more than ten percent (10%) of the total funds of a decedent, in such manner as to defraud the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico of payment of the tax levied by this act, and the bank delivering such funds in excess of such limit, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by the penalties hereinabove prescribed.
History —Aug. 29, 1925, No. 99, p. 790, § 12; Apr. 27, 1933, No. 20, p. 232, § 5; Apr. 12, 1946, No. 303, p. 782, § 15; May 13, 1948, No. 189, p. 526, § 2; May 12, 1952, No. 386, p. 766, § 2; June 10, 1953, No. 62, p. 170.