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Puerto Rico Sales Tax rise gains ground for July 2015

  • May 23, 2015 | Richard Asquith

Puerto Rico Sales Tax rise gains ground for July 2015

The Puerto Rican House of Representatives approved an increase of Sales and Use Tax (SUT) from 7% to 11.5% last week. There will also be a new 4% rate for Professional Services. Plans to introduce VAT in April 2016 are still under discussion.

The Bill to increase the consumption tax will now pass to the Senate for final approval.

The Bill originally included a proposal to withdraw the SUT by 2016, and introduce a full Value Added Tax regime. The planned rate for VAT had been 14%. Since then, discussions between the opposing political parties have turned to introducing it at 11.5%. The earliest date for implementation of VAT is now April 2016.

The tax reform is estimated to raise over $1 billion in revenues for the struggling country.


VP Global Indirect Tax
Richard Asquith
VP Global Indirect Tax Richard Asquith
Richard Asquith is the former VP Global Indirect Tax at Avalara