2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY-THREE - Public Planning and Development (§§ 1 — 11273) › PART II - Economic Development (§§ 231-241 — 695i) › Chapter 35 - Metropolitan Bus Authority (§§ 601 — 620) › § 619 - Tax exemption

(a) It is hereby found and declared that the purposes for which the Authority is created and shall exercise its powers are the promotion of the general welfare and the promotion of commerce and prosperity, all of them being public purposes for the welfare of the people of Puerto Rico in general, and that therefore the Authority shall not be required to pay any taxes, duties on commodities and/or any other kind of goods, excises, fees, or permit or license taxes, Commonwealth as well as municipal, on any of the properties acquired by it or under its jurisdiction, control, possession, or supervision, or on its activities in the operation and maintenance of any undertaking or on the income derived from any of its properties and activities.
The exemption herein granted to the Authority with respect to excise taxes shall include those articles that may be introduced by any introducer in the name of, and for the exclusive use of the Authority in its character of lessee of such articles, and provided the documents verifying the introduction and the use of such articles in accordance with the terms of the contract are delivered by the lessor and kept in the offices of the Authority, subject to examination by the officers of the Bureau of General Excise Taxes of the Department of the Treasury. The exemption herein granted is conditioned to the fact that the articles, the object of the lease, be exported or destroyed, under the supervision of the Authority on their becoming obsolete or worn out. In those cases where at the termination of the lease contract, there still exists any remnant of articles introduced under the terms of this paragraph, the exemption shall cease and the person in possession of same shall pay the corresponding excise tax within thirty (30) days following the termination of said contract, unless the Authority itself acquires them within the same term. This exemption shall be retroactive to January 1, 1963.
(b) The Authority shall also be exempt from the payment of all kinds of fees, taxes and imposts heretofore or hereafter required by law for the prosecution of judicial proceedings, the issuing of certifications in all offices and dependencies of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and the execution of public documents and their registration in any public registry of Puerto Rico.
(c) In order to facilitate the procurement of funds by the Authority to enable it to carry out its corporate purposes, the bonds issued by the Authority and the income therefrom shall be and remain at all times exempt from the payment of income tax.
(d) It is hereby found and declared that the purposes for which the Metropolitan Bus Company, Inc., was created were the promotion of the general welfare and the commerce and prosperity, all of them being public purposes for the benefit of the people of Puerto Rico, and that therefore the Metropolitan Bus Company, Inc., shall not be required to pay any tax on any of its properties or income, and that the bonds or other obligations issued by the Metropolitan Bus Company, Inc., and the income therefrom shall be and remain at all times exempt from the payment of income tax. This exemption is a confirmation of the tax exemption granted the Metropolitan Bus Company, Inc., pursuant to the provisions contained in §§ 331—352 of this title, and shall be retroactive to November 1, 1957, on which date the said Company was created.
(e) The Authority shall pay on or before July 15 to the Treasurer of the Government of the Capital or of the municipalities wherein its real property may be located, a sum equal to the share accruing to said governments of the taxes which, were it not for the exemption provided herein, would be payable by the Authority upon such real property as may be owned by it in the Capital or in said municipalities.
History —May 11, 1959, No. 5, p. 17, § 19; May 26, 1967, No. 70, p. 264, § 1.