2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY-THREE - Public Planning and Development (§§ 1 — 11273) › PART IX - Economic Development II (§§ 11001 — 11273) › Chapter 252 - Jobs Now Act (§§ 11021 — 11025) › Subchapter III - Energy Credit for Job Creation (§ 11023) › § 11023 - Energy credit to incentivize job creation (§ 11023) › 2

(a) Every eligible business shall obtain a credit for every eligible incremental job created between January 1, 2013 and June 30, 2014. Such credit shall be use for the payment of the electric bill of the eligible business, as provided in this section. The credit limit established in this Section shall be determined in accordance with the regulations to be adopted by the Electric Power Authority together with the Department of the Treasury pursuant to this chapter, taking into account, among others, the following factors: the date on which the eligible incremental job was created, the basic salary to be earned by the eligible incremental employee, and, if it is a full-time job or equivalent to an eligible incremental job under the formula established in this section. The maximum credit amount to be generated for every eligible incremental job shall be the following:
(1) Up to $2,000 for every eligible incremental job created between January 1, 2013 and December 31, 2013. Any credit in excess of $2,000 shall be determined by the Department of the Treasury through regulations by comparing the salary schedule of the employee with his/her tax liability.
(2) Up to $1,000 for every eligible incremental job created between January 1, 2014 and March 31, 2014.
(3) Up to $500 for every eligible incremental job created between April 1, 2014 and June 30, 2014.
(b) The eligible incremental job determination shall be made on a quarterly basis, and the energy credit for an increase in the jobs generated each quarter shall be used to defray the electric power costs of the eligible business as shown in the bill payable after the close of the corresponding quarter and subsequent months until it is used in full. The quarterly eligible jobs increase shall be determined by comparing the number of eligible employees during the quarter ending on March 30, 2013, with the number of eligible employees of the eligible business as of December 31, 2012. The job increase for the quarters ending on June 30, 2013, September 30, 2013, December 31, 2013, March 30, 2014, and June 30, 2014, shall be determined by comparing the number of eligible employees as of the close of that quarter with that at the close of the previous quarter.
(c) Any job created to replace another job within the eligible business or any job transferred to another eligible business as a result of a transfer of assets or line of business shall not be eligible for the energy credit. In order to be eligible for the energy credit, the person hired for the eligible incremental job must have been unemployed before such hiring.
(d) To claim the energy credit, the eligible business shall fill out and file with the electric power authority, along with its electric bill, a sworn form including:
(1) Name, address, and employer identification number of the eligible business.
(2) Quarter for which the energy credit is claimed.
(3) Number of employees as of December 31, 2012, and, as applicable, as of March 30, 2013, June 30, 2013, September 30, 2013, December 31, 2013, March 30, 2014, and June 30, 2014.
(4) Number of full-time employees (and equivalent) created during the quarter claimed in the sworn form (incremental job).
(5) Number of hours worked by every eligible incremental employee during the quarter claimed in the sworn form.
(6) Amount of the credit claimed for the quarter and for each previous quarter, if applicable.
(7) Certification issued by the Company stating that it qualifies as an eligible business.
(8) A certification attesting to the fact that the eligible business meets all the applicable requirements of this chapter and that it is not generating a credit on account of job creation for such period, to be used against the electric bill or otherwise, under the provisions of incentives laws.
(9) Any other information required by the Electric Power Authority through regulations, provided that the absence of regulations shall not be an impediment to claim the credit; provided further that the information required under this section is submitted under oath to the Electric Power Authority.
(e) The eligible business shall keep an average of eligible jobs during the first four (4) calendar years starting on June 30, 2014, equal to or greater than the number of eligible jobs it had as of December 31, 2013, plus the number of eligible incremental jobs for which credit has been claimed under this subchapter.
(f) The Executive Director of the Electric Power Authority shall prescribe, through the regulations provided in subsection (a) of this section, the applicable collection mechanism, if failure to maintain the required number of jobs provided in the preceding subsection is proven. The amount to be collected shall be prorated between the credit claimed before the Electric Power Authority under this subchapter and the amount of required jobs is not maintained.
(g) The energy credit shall not be sold, transferred, or assigned. The use of the energy credit shall not generate taxable income or volume of business for the eligible business.
(h) Except for the benefits provided under this chapter, the eligible business shall not combine this energy credit with other grants, decrees, benefits, or any other kind of incentives for the same purposes. However, only for purposes of this subchapter, the term eligible business shall include businesses operating under incentive laws, provided that such businesses are not generating credits or other tax or economic incentives for job creation under said incentive laws. It shall not be necessary to have entered into an Agreement under §§ 11024-11024l of this title to generate and use the credit established in this Section.
(i) The amounts claimed under the energy credit shall be reimbursed to the Electric Power Authority by the Department of the Treasury. The Department of the Treasury and the Electric Power Authority shall establish the energy credit reimbursement mechanism by regulations. Every credit shall be paid with the contributions made by each eligible incremental employee on account of income taxes and others. If the income generated by the eligible employee is not subject to income tax withholding, the reimbursement to the authority shall be computed on the basis of the estimated sales and use tax consumption and contribution generated by such eligible employee to the General Fund and the contribution to the treasury arising from the economic activity generated by such eligible incremental jobs to the economy of the Island. The energy credit generated by eligible incremental employees shall be $750 and shall be granted as follows: seventy-five percent (75%) twelve months after being hired and twenty-five percent (25%) after the remaining six months have elapsed.
(j) Eligible businesses opting for the energy credit process under this subchapter shall fill out the form to be provided by the Trade and Export Company for statistical purposes.
(k) The Department of the Treasury and the Electric Power Authority shall be exempt from complying with the provisions of the Uniform Administrative Procedures Act when implementing this subchapter.
(l) The Electric Power Authority shall process the credit provided for herein through the Interagency Validation Portal for the Granting of Incentives for the Economic Development of Puerto Rico. However, during the period in which the Portal is still not operating, it shall be the duty of the Electric Power Authority to issue a Certificate of Compliance to the agencies, public corporations, and municipalities responsible for granting benefits or incentives under this chapter following the ordinary process.
Notice This section has more than one version with varying effective dates. Second of two versions of this section.