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Understanding the complexity of Puerto Rico Sales and Use Tax (“SUT”) is a great challenge for most merchants. During the past years there have been changes that significantly affected the Puerto Rico SUT. To provide basic guidance and understanding this top 10 SUT tips will help your business comply.

On August 10, 2017, the Puerto Rico Secretary of Labor and Human Resources issued the “Uniform Guidelines for Equal Pay in the Workplace” pursuant to the mandate of Act No. 16 of 2017, enacted on March 8, 2017, creating the Puerto Rico’s Equal Pay Act and Act No. 61 of 2017 which requires that certain government contractors are in compliance with the Equal Pay Act.

A new report issued by the United States Government Accountability Office (GAO) examined trends in small business contracting and the use of SBA programs in Puerto Rico from fiscal years (FY) 2006 through 2016.

On August 3, the Puerto Rico Treasury Department (the “PRTD”) issued Internal Revenue Circular Letter No. 17-12 (“CL 17-12”) to establish an alternative and expedient option to taxpayers under Correspondence Audits.

The FASB has issued a proposed ASU, Clarifying the Scope and the Accounting Guidance for Contributions Received and Contributions Made, to assist entities in evaluating whether transactions should be accounted for as contributions (nonreciprocal transactions) or as exchange (reciprocal) transactions subject to other guidance. The proposal would also address how an entity would distinguish between conditional contributions and unconditional contributions when a transaction is accounted for as a contribution.

Act 42-2017, was enacted on July 9, 2017 to establish the statutory framework applicable to the Medical Cannabis industry. To provide guidance on the provisions of the sales and use tax (SUT) as they relate to this industry, the Puerto Rico Treasury Department issued Administrative Determination 17-0 (DA 17-0) on July 20, 2017.

To provide guidance on the new requirements for the deposit of the Sales Tax, the Puerto Rico Treasury Department issued Administrative Determination 17-07 (DA 17-07) on July 28, 2017 with immediate effectiveness. Following we provide five basic questions and answers that will give you a head start to the new procedures.

The Social Security Number (SSN) is a unique number that identifies an individual for employment purposes. All SSNs have nine digits, organized as follows: 000-00-0000. Employers need to request from employees full name, as it appears registered with the Social Security Administration and the Social Security Number. It is the responsibility of the employer to report them correctly on Form 499R-2/W-2PR.

The current populist groundswell signals a belief that economic systems aren’t serving the right groups, and scarce resources and attention are going elsewhere. Resentment directed at business already has implications in policy. Tax and regulatory reforms are on the legislative table, and momentum for trade restrictions is building.

The Board issued the proposed ASU, Targeted Improvements to Related Party Guidance for Variable Interest Entities, which is intended to improve financial reporting related to consolidation of variable interest entities (VIEs).

In view of the current fiscal crisis, various municipalities in Puerto Rico have resorted to the raising of established taxes and the imposition of new ones to secure additional revenue to offset their rising costs and the loss of funding from the Central Government.

On July 11, 2017, the Governor of Puerto Rico signed Acts Nos. 43, 44 and 45, which amended Act 20 of 2012, Act 73 of 2008 and Act 22 of 2012, respectively, in order to boost the exportation of services and attract more foreign investors to Puerto Rico by reducing the bureaucratic barriers of these incentive laws.

An estate tax repeal could take different forms that could have estate planning implications. If the estate-tax is repealed, the effect of those taxes not collected would be partially offset by limiting the basis step-up at death, up to the first $10 million of appreciated property.

Puerto Rico Treasury Department released Administrative Determination (“AD 17-04”) to further explain the changes that were introduced to the Puerto Rico Internal Revenue Code with the approval of Act 25-2017.

The Municipalities of Ponce and Caguas have issued Municipal Ordinances to respectively levy a 2% increase to real and personal property tax rates and impose a 0.35% Municipal Business Contribution on taxpayers whose volume of business exceeded $3MM for the year ended December 31, 2016.

The State Insurance Fund Annual Payroll Statement (Form FSE 693) must be filed with the CFSE on or before July 20, 2017. The same must show the number of employees, occupation or industry classification and the respective total amount of wages paid during the immediately preceding fiscal year ended June 30.