2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY-ONE - Municipalities (§§ 1-4 — 6756) › Subtitle 7 - Municipal Property Tax (§§ 5001 — 6756) › PART I (§§ 5001 — 5252) › Chapter 243 - Tax Registry Survey, Classification and Assessment of Property (§§ 5051 — 5099b) › § 5098a - Administrative review procedure and judicial challenge of real property tax

(a) Administrative review.— If the taxpayer is not in agreement with the tax notice issued by the CRIM or the office designated by the municipality to which the authorities established in § 5051a of this title have been delegated under §§ 5076 and 5077 of this title, or issued by the municipalities under § 5051a of this title, he/she may request to the CRIM or the office designated by the municipality to which the authorities established in § 5051a of this title have been delegated, or a written request in the case of a tax imposed under § 5051 of this title, for an administrative review to state the grounds for his/her objections, the amount he/she deems to be correct, and include, if he/she deems it necessary, any pertinent evidence or documents within a term of thirty (30) calendar days from the date the notice provided in §§ 5076 and 5077 of this title was mailed, insofar as the taxpayer, within the aforementioned term and pursuant to the regulation established by the Interagency Committee for the enforcement of § 5051 of this title, as the case may be:
(1) Pays to the CRIM or the office designated by the municipality to which the authorities established in § 5051a of this title have been delegated, the amount of the tax with which he/she is in agreement and forty percent (40%) of the amount of the tax with which he/she is not in agreement,
(2) pays to the CRIM or the office designated by the municipality to which the authorities established in § 5051a of this title have been delegated, the full amount of the tax imposed, or
(3) as for taxes imposed under § 5051a of this title, pays to the CRIM or the office designated by the municipality to which the authorities established in § 5051a of this title have been delegated, the full amount of the tax imposed.
The taxpayer who requests an administrative review, as provided herein, shall not be eligible for the prompt payment discount provided in § 5093 of this title, except when he/she pays the total tax imposed, within the terms prescribed by law, in order to be entitled to the discount.
The CRIM or the office designated by the municipality to which the authorities established in § 5051a of this title have been delegated, as the case may be, shall issue its decision within a term of sixty (60) days from the date on which the taxpayer filed the request for an administrative review. If the CRIM or the office designated by the municipality to which the authorities established in § 5051a of this title have been delegated, as the case may be, fails to answer within said term, it shall be understood that the tax estimate notified to the taxpayer is ratified. When the decision of the CRIM or the office designated by the municipality to which the authorities established in § 5051a of this title have been delegated, as the case may be, is adverse to the taxpayer, he/she shall be bound to pay the portion of the tax pending payment, plus the corresponding interest and surcharges, computed from the date on which the decision was notified. When the decision is favorable, the CRIM or the office designated by the municipality to which the authorities established in § 5051a of this title have been delegated, as the case may be, shall be bound to reimburse the taxpayer the portion of the tax charged in excess, plus the corresponding interest from the date of payment of the revised tax.
The administrative review procedure must be completed as a prior requirement for a taxpayer to challenge, as provided in subsection (b) of this section, a decision on a tax with which he/she is not in agreement.
(b) Judicial challenge.— If the taxpayer is not in agreement with the determination issued by the CRIM or the office designated by the municipality to which the authorities established in § 5051a of this title have been delegated, as the case may be, pursuant to subsection (a) of this section, he/she may challenge such determination before the Court of First Instance within a term of thirty (30) calendar days from the date on which the CRIM or the office designated by the municipality to which the authorities contained in § 5051a of this title have been delegated, as the case may be, mailed the notice of its determination to the taxpayer. If the CRIM or the Interagency Committee, as the case may be, does not issue its determination within a term of sixty (60) days from the date on which the taxpayer filed his/her request for an administrative review, such taxpayer may challenge the tax before the Court of First Instance within a term of thirty (30) calendar days starting on the day after said term of sixty (60) days has elapsed.
If the decision of the Court of First Instance is adverse to the taxpayer, said decision shall provide that the tax challenged, or the portion thereof deemed as correctly imposed, shall be paid along with the corresponding interest and surcharges from the date the decision is served. If the decision of the court is favorable to the taxpayer, and he/she has paid the tax challenged on or after the date established in this section, said decision shall provide for said tax, or the part thereof deemed by the court as charged in excess, to be reimbursed to the taxpayer plus the corresponding legal interests, computed from the date on which the challenged tax was paid.
History —Aug. 30, 1991, No. 83, added as § 3.48 on July 17, 1998, No. 135, § 2; July 2, 2010, No. 71, § 15.