11 December 2018 Puerto Rico’s Treasury Department announces implementation of additional tax obligations to be managed through SURI and the changes to the withholding vouchers and informative returns The Puerto Rico Treasury Department (PRTD) has announced (Informative Bulletin (IB) 18-16) that it will incorporate additional tax obligations to its integrated tax system (SURI by its Spanish acronym). The implementation commenced with the sales and use tax (SUT) in October 2016 as part a three-part phased approach to integrate all the tax obligations into SURI, and is now moving to Phase 2, effective 10 December 2018. The PRTD also announced through IB 18-18 the release of 2018 withholding statements and informative returns, as well as changes to the forms. Finally, the PRTD is granting (IB 18-21 and IB 18-22) additional time to make certain filings and payments due in the month of December. IB 18-16 sets forth: (1) the types of taxes included in each phase, as well as the start dates for each phase; and (2) the transactions that taxpayers will have to complete electronically through SURI once the second phase is completed. The following table sets out each phase: Phase | Tax type | Start date | Phase 1 | SUT | Already implemented and SUT is completely administered through SURI | Phase 2 | Withholding at source, inheritance and gift tax, excise tax, alcoholic beverage tax, and licenses, requests and renewals | 10 December 2018 | Phase 3 | Income tax | December 2019 | Beginning 10 December 2018, the following transactions included in Phase 2 will have to be made or reported through SURI: Withholding at source- Deposits of taxes withheld at source
- Filing of Employer’s Quarterly Return of Income Tax Withheld (Form 499 R-1B)
- Filing and corrections to income tax withholding statements (Forms 499 R-2/W-2PR, 499 R-2c/W-2cPR and 499 R-3)
- Filing of informative returns (Forms 480.5, 480.6A, 480.6B, 480.6B.1, 480.6C, 480.6D, 480.7, 480.7A, 480.7B, 480.7C and 480.7D)
- Filing of informative returns by pass-through entities, revocable trusts, grantor trusts and employee-owned special corporations (Forms 480.6 EC, 480.6 F and 480.6 CPT)
Inheritance and gift taxes- Filing of the inheritance informative return and issuance of the certificate for the cancellation of the corresponding tax assessment
- Filing of the gift tax informative return and the issuance of the certificate for the cancellation of the corresponding tax assessment
- Filing of other related requests
Excise taxes, alcoholic beverage tax and license requests and renewals- Filing and payment of the Statement of Excise Tax
- Filing and payment of the Monthly Excise Tax return
- Filing and payment of alcoholic beverages tax
- Filing of the request for the manufacturers’ identification number
- Request and payment of Internal Revenue license fee
- Requests for permits, exemptions and other authorizations related to the import of alcoholic beverages and products derived from tobacco
- Electronic management of inventory on bonded warehouses
To prepare for Phase 2, the PRTD announced (IB 18-21) transferred taxpayers’ information from previous digital platforms to SURI from 6 December 2018 to 9 December 2018. During that period, the services offered by the PRTD through those previous platforms was limited. For this reason, the filings and tax payments due from 5 December 2018 through 20 December 2018 (IB 18-21 and IB 18-22) are being extended until 21 December 2018. The PRTD made the following changes to Forms 499R-2/W-2PR, 499R-2c/W-2cPR, 480.6A, 480.6B and 480.6B.1: Forms 499R-2/W-2PR and 499R-2c/W-2cPR | Forms 480.6A and 480.6B | Form 480.6B.1 | - Adds a box for employers to report amounts paid for: (i) services performed by a qualified doctor with a decree under Act 14-2017; (ii) domestic services, local school club, or a local chapter of a fraternity or sorority; (iii) any other services required by the PRTD through a regulation, administrative determination or circular letter
- Adds codes to report exempt salaries, including salaries that are exempt from income tax because they were paid during a government-declared disaster
| - Adds a box to report the total special 1.5% contribution for professional services with the Government under Act 48-2013
- Adds a box to report reimbursed expenses paid to service providers reported separately on the invoice
- Adds a box for health insurance companies to report deductibles, coinsurance and copayments*
- Adds a space for payments for services performed by individuals, corporations and partnerships if the amount reported includes payments to health service providers
- Adds a box to report insurance premiums directly related to a trade or business (Form 480.6A only)*
- Adds boxes for reporting amounts paid for telecommunication services, ads and other marketing, internet and television services, and the use of intangibles (Form 480.6A only)*
| - Adds Part III to be completed by brokers, agents and other financial intermediaries that report a tax that was withheld and deposited by the issuer or entity that made the payment*
| ?* Optional for 2018, and required for 2019 The PRTD also made the following changes: - Form 480.6C – Adds a box for the Government to report the total amount of 1.5% special contributions for professional services with the Government in accordance with Act 48-2013
- Form 480.30 – Adds Part III to be completed by brokers, agents and other financial intermediaries that report a contribution that was withheld and deposited by the issuer or entity that made the payment
- Form 480.6D – Eliminates the box for compensation paid to an employee by reason of dismissal; that information must be reported on Form W-2PR
- Form 480.7A – Adds a box for the physical address of the property subject to the loan
- Form 480.7C – Adds an exempt income box to report the portion of a distribution that corresponds to exempt income
- Form 480.5 – Adds a withholding penalty box to report the total included in box 6 of all Forms 480.7
Additionally, the PRTD released new reconciliation statements for 2018. Withholding agents will use Forms 480.7B.1 and 480.7C.1 to summarize the withheld amounts reported on Forms 480.7, 480.7B and 480.7C. All SURI accounts need to have a master administrator who is the person designated for granting access to the company account to others (including other employees or representatives), which means it is important to designate the right person. The PRTD has been sending letters to taxpayers in relation to this matter. Similar to sales and use tax payments, all payments for new services and transactions through SURI, included in Phase 2, will need to be made electronically using any of the three methods available - ACH debit, ACH credit or credit card. Companies that have an ACH debit block account will need to contact their financial institutions to provide the PRTD with the company ID to authorize payments. The PRTD has updated Publication 06-06 with instructions for ACH credit transactions because this payment option was added with the launch of Phase 2. For additional information with respect to this Alert, please contact the following: - Pablo Hymovitz | pablo.hymovitz@ey.com
- Rosa M. Rodríguez | rosa.rodriguez@ey.com
- María T. Riollano | maria.riollano@ey.com
- Isabel N. Rivera | isabel.rivera@ey.com
- Adriana Jimenez | adriana.jimenezflores@ey.com
- Noeliz Suarez | noeliz.suarezarchilla@ey.com
Document ID: 2018-6485 |
