2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE THIRTEEN - Taxation and Finance (§§ 1 — 33423) › Subtitle 3 - Property Taxes (§§ 401 — 701-701-41) › Chapter 55 - Attachment, Sale, and Redemption of Property (§§ 501 — 522) › § 503 - Procedure for attachment of real and personal property

Immediately after the expiration of the terms granted by § 330 of the Political Code, the collector or agent shall make out a written notice of attachment which shall contain the total amount of the taxpayer’s debt and shall proceed to attach the property of the delinquent debtor. Said notice shall state the total amount of taxes which are due and unpaid, the interest and surcharges provided by § 330 of the Political Code, and the amount of fees for the process server, as provided below. The collector shall notify the debtor by serving a copy of the notice on him and warning him that if he does not pay the taxes within the term of thirty (30) days from the date of such notice, the attached property or part thereof which is strictly necessary to pay the debt shall be sold at public auction as soon as possible after said period, with no further notice. If any debtor, or any of his relatives or dependents, refuses to surrender the attached property to the collector or agent upon demand after the above-stated thirty- (30-) day period has expired, or, if after the attachment, he should sell, conceal, destroy, transfer, cede, or in any other way alienate said property for the purpose of annulling the attachment or evading the payment of taxes, he shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be punished by imprisonment for a period of not less than one month nor more than six (6) months or by a fine of not more than five hundred (500) dollars. Said attachment shall be enforceable as soon as notice shall have been served by leaving a copy thereof with the debtor or any member of his family in charge of said property. When the collector or agent fails to find the debtor or any member of his family in charge of said property, he shall notify the debtor of said attachment by registered mail with return receipt requested to the address which appears or shows from documents or records from the internal revenue collector’s office in which the attachment is made, and service of the attachment, as mentioned above, shall be prima facie evidence that said delinquent taxpayer has been notified of the attachment, and notice by any of said forms shall be as valid and effective as if the debtor had received it personally. As soon as the attachment is served as above, the collector or agent is authorized to seize the attached property, or close the business or property, if he believes it is necessary. Upon execution of said attachment, the collector or agent is hereby authorized to enter the debtor’s house or domicile, if necessary, with the consent of the debtor, and in case said consent is denied, a mandate shall be requested from a court of justice to authorize entry to the debtor’s house or domicile with the sole purpose of executing said proceedings. If under such circumstances, any such debtor or his relatives or dependents should offer any resistance to any collector or agent after the presentation of said order of the court, he shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be punished by imprisonment for a period of not less than one month nor more than six (6) months, or by a fine of not less than one hundred (100) dollars nor more than five hundred (500) dollars. It shall be the duty of the police authorities or their agents to provide the collector or agent all the assistance required for the proper execution of the duties of the collector or agent, as required by this Code. As soon as the attachment is notified in the manner hereinafter provided, the attached property shall be deposited in charge of any person who commits himself to keep it available for the collector or agent until the debtor pays said taxes or it is sold at public auction, and if any depositary of the attached property should dispose of the same, he shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and punished by imprisonment for a period of not less than one (1) month nor more than six (6) months or by a fine of not more than five hundred (500) dollars. When the attachment of personal property or notice to the debtor, relatives or dependents is performed as provided herein, the collector or agent may collect, in addition to the taxes, interest, surcharges and penalties, an amount sufficient to defray the cost of the custody and deposit of the attached property, together with fees for an amount equal to ten (10) percent of the total amount of taxes, excluding surcharges, which shall be paid to the process server who carried out the notification proceedings, or shall be deposited in the Commonwealth Treasury if said notification was served by a collector, agent or any other employee of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.
History —Political Code, 1902, § 336; May 9, 1942, No. 178, p. 906, § 1; June 14, 1957, No. 56, p. 125, § 3; June 28, 1969, No. 132, p. 384, § 1; May 27, 1976, No. 55, p. 152, § 4; Mar. 29, 1979, No. 29, p. 76.