2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE FIVE - Agriculture (§§ 1 — 4706) › Chapter 23 - Fertilizer (§§ 501 — 535) › § 529 - Taxes

An extraordinary tax of twenty cents per ton or fraction of a ton of commercial fertilizer manufactured or distributed in Puerto Rico is hereby levied. In the case of liquid fertilizers, and for the purpose of levying the tax, the tons or fractions thereof shall be calculated on the basis of their densities at twenty-seven (27) degrees centigrade stated in pounds per gallon or volumes [sic] in gallons.
A tax of twenty cents (20¢) is likewise levied on each ton or fraction of a ton of raw materials for fertilizers manufactured and/or distributed to be applied directly in the plantations or for use in Puerto Rico as such, that is, without having been previously used in the manufacture of commercial fertilizers.
An extraordinary tax of fifteen cents (15¢) for each ton or fraction thereof is also levied on all soil additives manufactured or distributed in Puerto Rico.
These taxes shall be considered preferential liens on the property subject thereto. Therefore, every manufacturer or distributor of commercial fertilizers or amendments to the soil shall be under obligation to pay the whole of the tax on the commercial fertilizers and amendments to the soil manufactured or distributed by him in Puerto Rico.
Every manufacturer or distributor of commercial fertilizers and/or amendments to the soil shall be under obligation to present to the Secretary, within the first ten (10) days following the month in which the report was sent, a declaration following the model form provided by the Secretary, including the trademarks and the number of tons or fractions of tons of commercial fertilizers, raw materials to be applied directly to the plantations, and amendments to the soil manufactured, imported, purchased in the local market, sold, and received or ceded in the nature of a loan for use in Puerto Rico during the month corresponding to the report. In case of manufacture or distribution for use in Puerto Rico of raw materials for fertilizers and commercial fertilizers, there shall be specified:
(a) If they are mixed fertilizers or liquid fertilizers, the grades thereof and the number of tons of the fertilizers manufactured, imported, purchased in the local market, sold and received or ceded in the nature of a loan.
(b) If they are raw materials for fertilizers or amendments to the soil, the kinds they are, and guaranteed analysis and the number of tons of raw materials for fertilizers or amendments to the soil imported, purchased in the local market, sold, manufactured and received or ceded in the nature of a loan.
In the case of liquid fertilizers, the weights shall be estimated on the basis of the densities thereof and the volume in gallons at twenty-seven (27) degrees centigrade expressed in pounds [per] gallon.
The declarations specified in this section shall be accompanied by the proper payment in check or postal money order in the name of the Secretary of the Treasury and addressed to the Department of Agriculture; Provided, That the proceeds of said taxes shall be covered into the General Fund of the Treasury of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.
History —May 8, 1973, No. 19, p. 57, § 11; July 20, 1979, No. 171, p. 443, § 10; Aug. 24, 1997, No. 103, § 7, eff. 30 days after Aug. 24, 1997.