23 September 2022

Puerto Rico's Treasury Department temporarily exempts prepared food from sales tax because of Hurricane Fiona

In Administrative Determination 22-07, the Puerto Rico Treasury Department has announced prepared food is temporarily exempt from sales tax from September 22, 2022, to October 6, 2022, as a result of the state of emergency declared by the Governor of Puerto Rico due to Hurricane Fiona. The temporary sales tax exemption does not apply to alcoholic beverages.

Merchants should report the sales in their monthly sales tax returns on the line for reporting sales of exempt tangible personal property. If a merchant collects sales tax on the sale of prepared food, the merchant should immediately reimburse the amount of the sales tax to the consumer.

Implications

The temporary sales tax exemption should apply to the 1% municipal sales and use tax (SUT) because the Puerto Rico Internal Revenue Code, as amended, provides that the municipal SUT is imposed in the same manner as the state-level SUT.

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Contact Information
For additional information concerning this Alert, please contact:
 
State and Local Taxation Group
   • Rosa M. Rodríguez (rosa.rodriguez@ey.com)
   • Pablo Hymovitz Cardona (pablo.hymovitz@ey.com)
   • María T. Riollano (maria.riollano@ey.com)
   • Alberto J. Rossy (alberto.rossy@ey.com)
   • Alexandra M. Pérez (alexandra.perez@ey.com)
   • Carla J Diaz (carla.j.diaz@ey.com)
   • Karol I. Santiago (karol.santiago@ey.com)
   • Marcel Ramos (marcel.ramos1@ey.com)
   • Isabel Rivera (isabel.rivera@ey.com)
   • Noeliz Suarez (noeliz.suarezarchilla@ey.com)
   • David Montanez-Miranda (david.montanez-miranda@ey.com)
   • Luz Grycell Rivera (LuzGrycell.Rivera@ey.com)

Document ID: 2022-1438