P.R. Laws tit. 21, § 4052
In addition to what is provided in other acts, the municipality may impose and collect taxes or levies for the concepts and in the manner established below:
(a) Impose a basic tax which shall not exceed six percent (6%) on the appraised worth of real property, and of four percent (4%) on the appraised worth of chattels that are not exempted or relieved from the payment of taxes, located within its territorial limits, and pursuant to § 5001 of this title.
The municipality, through ordinances to such effects, may impose property taxes based on a lower percentage for the type of business or industry to which said property is dedicated, or on its geographic location, when it is convenient to the public interest for the development of any business activity, or any special development and rehabilitation zone defined or established by ordinance. The municipality may likewise promulgate graded or progressive rates within the established maximum and minimum, establish lesser rates, and relief from the payment of property taxes, to promote investment in the development and rehabilitation of deteriorated or decaying urban areas in the municipality, through mechanisms that will allow a lower property tax rate, or a total or partial exemption thereof in the function of meeting conditions on investments and other similar ones established by the municipality through ordinances. These special programs shall be for fixed terms.
Until a municipality adopts new basic tax rates for each municipality, the rates that shall apply will be those that result from the sum of the rates adopted by each one of them under the statutory provisions that apply until the date of approval of this act, plus one percent (1%) per annum on the appraised worth of all chattels, and of three percent (3%) on the appraised worth of all non exempt or tax exempt real property in the municipality, that was previously covered into the General Fund of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.
(b) Impose additional special property taxes for the payment of loans. Each quarter, the Government Bank in its capacity as trustee, shall remit to the municipalities the interest accrued from the deposits in the Municipal Debt Redemption fund which are nourished from the product of the special additional property tax.
(c) Impose a special tax on all real property located in a residential improvement zone or business improvement district, as designated in this subtitle, for public improvements in benefit of the zone or district on which they are imposed.
(d) Impose and collect taxes, fees, licenses, construction excise taxes and other reasonable excise taxes and contributions, fees and tariffs within the territorial limits of the municipality that are compatible with the Internal Revenue Code and the laws of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, including, without it being construed as a limitation, fees for parking on municipal thoroughfares, for the opening of commercial, industrial and service establishments, for the construction of works and the demolishing of buildings, for the occupation, use and intervention of municipal thoroughfares and easements, and for waste management.
Every construction work within the territorial boundaries of a municipality, performed by a private natural or juridical person, or performed by a natural or juridical person in behalf or in representation of, or by a contract or subcontract signed with an agency or instrumentality of the central or municipal government or of the federal government, including works which do not require the request or issue of a permit by the Regulations and Permits Administration or by an autonomous municipality, shall pay the corresponding construction tax, prior to commencing said work.
In such cases, said excises shall be paid to the municipality in which said work shall be carried out, prior to the date it commences. In those cases where a change order arises in which a variation of the initial project is authorized, it shall be verified if said change consists of an extension, and if so, the corresponding tax shall be computed.
Neither the Regulations and Permits Administration or the Municipal Permits Office may grant a construction permit for a work to be carried out in a municipality that does not comply with the requirements imposed by this Section. To such effects, every contractor must present a certification issued by the municipality in evidence of the payment of the corresponding construction taxes.
The municipalities may resort to the Court of First Instance to plead an injunction to stop any work initiated without having paid the corresponding tax. Such procedure shall be processed pursuant to the Rules of Civil Procedure, and the court shall issue the corresponding writ if it is proved that the person served has not complied with the corresponding payment of the construction tax.
The municipal construction excise tax shall be effective on the date the duly-called notice for bidding is properly closed or on the date of adjudication of the contract for those construction works that do not require bidding. In the cases of change orders, the excise tax in effect on the date the petition for change orders was issued shall be applied. It being understood, that all prior work was done pursuant to the statutes that have authorized the collection of construction excise taxes in the municipalities through the years.
For the purpose of determining the construction excise tax, the total cost of the work shall be the cost incurred to carry out the project after deducting the cost of the acquisition of land, the buildings already constructed, built on the worksite, and the cost of studies, designs, plans, permits, and consultation and legal services fees.
(e) Impose upon telecommunications companies, cable TV and private utilities companies that do business or operate within the municipality, a fee for the use and maintenance of the easements used to install and maintain their infrastructure and equipment.
The municipality may impose this collection by means of ordinance to such effects pursuant to the type of business or enterprise and its type of operations. In any case, the charges or fees shall be fixed based on a fair and reasonable reference that is not discriminatory.
In addition to the charges, the ordinance and the regulation approved by the municipality, shall also establish the method of payment and collection, the means for verification of information or the required amount and the interest, surcharges and penalties to be imposed on those who do not comply or evade this obligation.
The municipality may also, by means of ordinance, impose on these businesses minor charges as an exemption, incentive or relief when convenient for the public interest for any economic, social rehabilitation or investment activity required. Such exemptions, incentives or relief shall be established for a fixed term and may be revoked in the case of noncompliance or abandonment of the conditions or obligations agreed on. The ordinance shall fix the administrative procedure to review these provisions.
The municipality shall implement the collections authorized herein through its finance or municipal income department, for which it shall have contracted skilled and qualified personnel. By means of ordinance, the municipality shall create a special account or fund in which it shall cover, in whole or in part, the amounts collected and the specified use.
This subsection shall be construed in accordance to the provisions in §§ 265 et seq. of Title 27, known as the “Telecommunications Act of Puerto Rico of 1996” and the regulations approved pursuant to the same. The regulatory board shall establish the necessary regulations with the direct participation of the municipalities within a term of ninety (90) days.
History —Aug. 30, 1991, No. 81, § 2.002; Oct. 29, 1992, No. 84, § 5; Sept. 6, 1996, No. 199, § 2; July 17, 1998, No. 130, § 1; Sept. 7, 2004, No. 258, § 8.