Puerto Rico's Treasury Department (PRTD) issued Information Bulletin 17-21 (IB 17-21) to extend the due date for filing certain returns and making tax payments due to Hurricane Maria. The PRTD also suspended (Administrative Determination (AD) 17-15) biweekly payments of sales tax from September 1, 2017, to November 30, 2017, for those not considered large taxpayers.

Furthermore, IB 17-21 provides a 30-day extension for taxpayers to submit to the PRTD documents and other information that may have been requested in the context of tax audit examinations and other similar procedures.

Taxpayers not considered large taxpayers

For taxpayers that are not considered large taxpayers, the PRTD extended the due dates for all tax returns, statements and corresponding payments due from September 19, 2017, to October 20, 2017, for an additional 20 days following the due dates. The same extension applies to all tax payments and deposits due from September 19, 2017, to October 20, 2017.

Additionally, the PRTD extended all tax returns, statements and tax payments originally extended by Circular Letter (CL) 17-13, IB 17-17 or IB 17-18 for an additional 20 days from the date indicated in those publications. (For more information on CL 17-13, see Tax Alert 2017-1468. For more information on IB 17-17 or IB 17-18, see Tax Alerts 2017-1499 and 2017-1515, respectively.)

Notwithstanding the 20-day extension, taxpayers may file the Import Declaration (Form 2970), the Monthly Tax Return for Imports (Form 2915 D), and the Monthly Sales and Use Tax Return (Form 2915) or pay the sales and use tax at any time through the Unified Internal Revenue System (SURI). Under AD 17-15, however, taxpayers do not have to make biweekly payments of sales tax for tax periods from September 1, 2017, to November 30, 2017. Instead, taxpayers must pay the sales tax no later than the 20th day of the month following collection of the sales tax or the date provided by IB 17-21. Beginning with the December 1, 2017, tax period, taxpayers must resume biweekly payments of sales tax.

Large taxpayers

For large taxpayers, the 20-day extension applies to all tax returns, statements and payments, except for transactions conducted through SURI for sales and use tax due in September and October 2017, including: (1) the filing of the Monthly Tax Return for Imports (Form 2915 D), and the Monthly Sales and Use Tax Return (Form 2915); and (2) the biweekly payment of sales and use tax. The PRTD extends the due dates for those transactions for an additional seven days from the due dates established in CL 17-13, IB 17-17 and IB 17-18.

Additionally, the 20-day extension does not apply to the payments of the 4% excise tax on acquisitions of certain personal property and services that were due in August and September and for which extensions were granted until October 6, 2017, and October 20, 2017, respectively.

The dates are extended as follows:

Information requested by the PRTD

With the exception of taxpayers who have received an information request through Form 6048, Information Request for Tax Credits Reported on Form 480.71, the PRTD extended the deadline for providing any requested information, including information requested for audits, for 30 days following the due date established in the request. For audit correspondence, the 30 days is in addition to the five-day extension established in IB 17-16. The 30-day extension only applies to requested information with due dates in September and October.

Additionally, the PRTD extended the deadline for documents requested through Form 6048 for two weeks beginning from the issuance date of IB 17-21. The extension is independent of the due date established in the request or AD 17-10 and AD 17-11.

Taxpayer rehabilitation plan

The PRTD will not impose fines, interest and penalties for any non-compliance with a payment plan established under CL 17-05 from September 1, 2017, to December 31, 2017. The PRTD also will not impose fines, interest and penalties for payment plans entered into before September 1, 2017, that were established under provisions different from those in CL 17-05.

Taxpayers who have received a notification of the imposition of fines, interest and penalties should notify the Center for Taxpayer Services to request the fines, interest and penalties be eliminated. If the PRTD has debited amounts for noncompliance with a payment plan, those amounts will be applied to the amount of the taxpayer's debt or reimbursed.

Licensing rights

Taxpayers who have payments due in September or October to renew licensing rights will not have to renew during that time. Instead, the licensing rights will be provisionally extended for a period of two months from the payment due date. Once that period expires, taxpayers should renew the licenses and make the applicable payments. The PRTD will retroactively authorize the license to the original due date for the payment of the licensing rights.

Implications

The PRTD has extended several due dates to file certain returns and make certain payments due to the impact of Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico. Although in most cases the PRTD has granted 20 additional days from the original or the extended due date, it is important to bear in mind that in the case of certain taxpayers, such as large taxpayers, there are instances in which the PRTD has granted only seven additional days. For example, the second biweekly SUT deposit for the month of September, which was originally due on October 2, 2017, has been extended until October 9, 2017.

The summary table is intended to show the original and extended due dates corresponding principally to the filings of the months of August and September. However, it also shows the extended due dates for income tax returns that were due in September or are due in October (e.g., June 30 year-end returns due on October 15).

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ENDNOTES

¹ Deposit of income tax withholding on services rendered.

² Includes various deposit obligations related to payments of dividend distributions, interest and 10% penalty on withdrawals from Individual Retirement Accounts (IRA).

³ Includes various deposit obligations related to payments of judicial or extrajudicial payments and estimated tax payments on the distributable share to partners on the income of partnerships, special partnerships and corporations of individuals.