P.R. Laws tit. 13, § 10655

2019-02-20 00:00:00+00
§ 10655. Periodical reports to the Governor and the Legislative Assembly

(a) In general.— Each year, and independent from any other report required by law, the Secretary of Development shall submit a report, in consultation with the Secretary of the Treasury, the Director of the Tax Exemption Office, the Executive Director, and the Planning Board, to the Governor and the Legislative Assembly on the economic and fiscal impact of this chapter and of §§ 10101 et seq. of this title. Said report shall be submitted within one hundred eighty (180) days after the close of each fiscal year.

Said report shall include, at least, but shall not be limited to the following information:

(1) The total number of jobs created or retained in Puerto Rico by exempt business compared to the jobs that such exempt business were committed to create under the decree;

(2) The percentage (%) of the total operational needs of exempt businesses that is acquired from raw materials from Puerto Rico and how much it represents in terms of local economic activity;

(3) The percentage (%) of the total operational needs of exempt businesses that is acquired from goods manufactured in Puerto Rico and how much it represents in terms of local economic activity;

(4) The percentage (%) of materials used by exempt businesses for the construction of their facilities or for extensions thereof that are acquired from business with a presence in Puerto Rico, and how much it represents in terms of local economic activity;

(5) The percentage (%) of agricultural products from Puerto Rico that is acquired;

(6) The percentage (%) of land surveying, production of construction plans, as well as engineering and architectural design services and other related services that exempt businesses contracted with business or professionals with a presence in Puerto Rico, and how much it represents in terms of local economic activity;

(7) The percentage (%) of financial, environmental, technological, scientific, management, marketing, human resources, information technology, and auditing consulting services that exempt businesses contracted with business or professionals with a presence in Puerto Rico, and how much it represents in terms of local economic activity;

(8) The percentage (%) of the commercial activities of the exempt business that employs banking services from banking institutions with a presence in Puerto Rico, and how much it represents in terms of local economic activity;

(9) The percentage (%) of advertising, public relations, commercial art and graphic design services that exempt business contracted with businesses or professionals with a presence in Puerto Rico, and how much it represents in terms of local economic activity;

(10) The percentage (%) of security or facility maintenance services that exempt businesses contracted with businesses with a presence in Puerto Rico, and how much it represents in terms of local economic activity.

(b) Required information.— The Secretary of Development shall request the information provided for hereinbelow from Government agencies, municipalities, or tax-exempt businesses, as the case may be, in order to prepare the report provided for in subsection (a) of this section:

(1) The number of applications for tax exemption submitted and approved, classified by type of business and classification of industrial activity;

(2) the total amount invested in machinery and equipment, the number of jobs and the payroll projected by the tax-exempt business;

(3) a description of any additional incentive received by the tax exempt business, be it funds from the local or the municipal government;

(4) the total amount of assets, liabilities, and capital of the business;

(5) the taxes paid by the tax-exempt businesses on income, royalties and others, and the use of benefits, such as tax credits and special deductions;

(6) the payment of municipal taxes;

(7) a comparison of the commitments made by tax-exempt businesses in relation to their employment level and other conditions established under the decree;

(8) success rate at providing the appropriate environment and opportunities to develop the local industry;

(9) a detailed account of tax proposals introduced to attract foreign direct investments, particularly high-technology and high value added industries;

(10) success rate at ensuring a beneficial relationship between the industry and the Government of Puerto Rico;

(11) efforts made to mitigate high operating costs and to render regulatory limitations more flexible;

(12) measures taken to reduce energy costs, and

(13) any other information that must be reported to the Governor and the Legislative Assembly in connection with the scope and effect of the implementation of this chapter.

(c) Additional information.— These reports shall include an evaluation of the factors which influence on the industrial development of Puerto Rico, such as: the impact of the governmental processing of permits, licenses, authorizations, grants, and the like, and the availability of properties for industrial purposes and skilled labor.

(d) Report by the Secretary of the Treasury.— Each year, and independent from any other report required by law, the Secretary of the Treasury shall render a report to the Legislature on any trends identified as to the payment of taxes by tax-exempt businesses, as compared to the preceding year, and a projection of such behavior for the three (3) years following the year to which the report corresponds. Said report shall be submitted within one hundred and eighty (180) days after the closing of each fiscal year.

The Department of the Treasury, together with the Industrial Development Company, shall establish questionnaires and regulations as necessary to achieve the objectives of this section.

(e) Cooperation among agencies.— The Government agencies and the municipalities shall provide information as provided for in this section to the Secretary of Development and the Secretary of the Treasury. The Secretary of Development may establish through regulations the forms and procedures necessary to ensure the exchange of information as required under this section.

(f) The InteragencyValidationPortal for the Granting of Incentives for the Economic Development of Puerto Rico attached to the Puerto Rico Institute of Statistics shall be an electronic data repository that allows information relative to tax-exempt businesses and certificates of compliance to be stored, updated, and accessed by the agencies concerned, while safeguarding the confidentiality of such information. This information shall be used to oversee compliance with the conditions imposed on tax-exempt businesses and to develop a marketing intelligence system that enables the Industrial Development Company to identify and help in a timely manner those tax-exempt businesses in a precarious situation, as well as to establish promotion strategies.

History —May 28, 2008, No. 73, art. 1, § 15; Dec. 16, 2011, No. 252, § 1; Nov. 17, 2015, No. 187, § 86.