2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY-THREE - Public Planning and Development (§§ 1 — 11273) › PART VI - Tourism (§§ 6001 — 6982i) › Chapter 151 - Tourism Development (§§ 6001 — 6326) › Subchapter II - Exemptions; Administration (§§ 6011 — 6018) › § 6017 - Administration; granting of benefits; penalties

(a) Except as otherwise provided in this chapter, the Director shall be in charge of administering this chapter and shall exercise the powers, perform the duties and comply with the obligations imposed hereby. The duties provided in this chapter with regard to the income taxes or excise taxes shall be administered by the Secretary; the duties provided in this chapter with regard to municipal land taxes shall be administered by the municipalities, and the duties provided in this chapter with regard to property taxes shall be administered by the Municipal Revenues Collection Center (“C.R.I.M.”) or by any other government body provided by law.
(b) During the effectiveness of this chapter, all other fiscal laws, including, but without being limited to, the Puerto Rico Industrial Incentive Acts, §§ 10001 et seq. of Title 13, Puerto Rico Tourist Incentive Act of 1983, §§ 693 et seq. of this title, Excise Tax Act of Puerto Rico, §§ 9001 et seq. of Title 13, Income Tax Act, former §§ 3001 et seq. of Title 13, Puerto Rico Internal Revenue Code of 1994, as amended, §§ 8006 et seq. of Title 13, Municipal License Act, §§ 651 et seq. of Title 21, and the laws regarding taxes on real and personal property, shall continue in effect with regard to exempted businesses (except when it is manifestly incompatible with this chapter), including, but without being limited to, the obligation to file returns, submit reports, pay taxes, pay the tax on the room occupancy rate and the procedures related to assessment, levying and collection of levies and taxes. Exempted businesses shall be bound to maintain the accounting related to the tourist-related activity separately; and Provided, further, That the tourist development income taxes shall be computed separately. The Director is hereby authorized to impose, through regulations or otherwise, such conditions with regard to the enjoyment of any exemption or benefit hereinunder, when said conditions are necessary to ensure the due compliance of the terms and purposes under which the exemption or benefit is granted. The requirements imposed by the Director may include, among others: requiring the filing of returns or reports; keeping accounting books and records; the furnishing of any document or evidence that is deemed pertinent to the exemption or benefit; the posting of bonds; the granting of permits to conduct periodic inspections or of any other nature, and the prior filing of the contracts, orders or other information related to permits to acquire, transfer, sell or introduce exempted articles under § 6011(a)(4) of this title.
(c) Any person, who has established or intends to establish an eligible business in Puerto Rico, may request the Director for a concession hereunder through the due filing of a petition. The approval of a concession under this chapter shall be conditioned to the presentation to the Director, by the eligible business of negative-debt certificates from the Departments of the Treasury and of Labor and Human Resources, the State Insurance Fund and the Municipal Revenues Collection Center (Spanish Acronym: C.R.I.M.). In addition, the petitioner shall prove that it has no balance due in relation to the tax on the room occupancy rate. The eligible business shall submit to the Director any additional document and/or permit that the Director may require by regulations. The exempted businesses described in § 6014(a) of this title, shall also file the accrediting certificate mentioned in § 6014(a)(3) of this title.
(1) The petitioner shall file his/her petition with the Secretary and the Director. Once the Director receives a petition duly filed under this chapter, the terms established in this section shall become effective. The Secretary shall evaluate the petition for its compliance with the applicable tax laws or any other act that may be under the jurisdiction of the Secretary and shall send his/her recommendation to the Director within sixty (60) days from filing the copy of the petition with the Secretary. If the Secretary does not submit his/her recommendations to the Director within the sixty (60)-day period, counted from the date of filing with the Secretary, the petition shall be deemed as having received a favorable recommendation by the Secretary. Any unfavorable recommendation by the Secretary shall include the reasons for such recommendation.
(2) Once the favorable recommendation by the Secretary has been received, or the sixty (60)-day period has elapsed without having received the Secretary’s recommendation, the Director shall have sixty (60) days to approve or deny the petition. The Director shall issue a final determination in writing, within a term of not more than one hundred and twenty (120) days from the date a petition has been duly filed. Should the petition be approved, the Director shall issue a concession specifying the exemptions granted and the terms and conditions that shall be met in order to enjoy the concession.
(3) If the Secretary’s recommendation is contrary to the Director’s decision, the Director may submit the case to the Governor for his evaluation and decision. The Governor’s decision shall be subject to the review procedures detailed in § 6018 of this title.
(d) The exemption granted under subsection (c) of this section is conditioned to the compliance by the tax-exempt business of the requirements established through regulations by the Puerto Rico Tourism Company. Said regulations shall establish the norms and criteria to require the following from the exempted business:
(1) A publicity, advertising and marketing plan for its tourist-related activities, according to the particular circumstances and needs of the eligible business in question.
(2) Compliance with adequate sanitary conditions and protection and safety standards for its clientele.
(3) A training and retraining program for its personnel.
(4) The minimum facilities required by law for handicapped persons.
(5) A conservation, improvement and maintenance plan for its physical structure and for its aesthetic and environmental infrastructure.
(e) Any person who voluntarily makes, or attempts to make, on his/her own behalf or on behalf of another person, any false or fraudulent representation, regarding any petition or concession of benefits hereinunder, shall be deemed guilty of a felony and shall, upon conviction thereof, be sanctioned by a fine which shall not exceed ten thousand dollars ($10,000) or by imprisonment which shall not exceed five (5) years, or both penalties, plus legal costs, at the discretion of the court.
(f) The Director shall promulgate the regulations needed to enforce compliance and implement the provisions and purposes of this chapter, including a regulation of minimum requirements, in consultation with the Department of Agriculture, to grant tax exemptions to agrolodgings and agrotourism activities.
(g) Coordination with the Puerto Rico Tourism Development Act of 2010. — No applications for renegotiation provided in this chapter shall be accepted after the effective date of the Puerto Rico Tourism Development Act of 2010.
Any grant application under this chapter that has been filed before the effective date of the Puerto Rico Tourism Development Act of 2010 shall be deemed to be an application filed pursuant to the Puerto Rico Tourism Development Act of 2010. The Director may request additional information regarding said application as he/she may deem pertinent.
History —Sept. 10, 1993, No. 78, § 9; Sept. 27, 1994, No. 114, § 4; Sept. 2, 2003, No. 231, § 3; Sept. 9, 2003, No. 272, § 65; July 10, 2010, No. 74, § 18.