Ley 143 del 2001
Resumen
Esta ley exime del pago de impuestos sobre ingresos a las instituciones financieras por las tarifas cobradas por la emisión de garantías que cubren el pago del principal e intereses de obligaciones emitidas para financiar proyectos de desarrollo turístico. También exime los ingresos del Fondo de Desarrollo Turístico de Puerto Rico derivados de estas tarifas. La ley busca incentivar la participación del sector privado en el financiamiento de proyectos turísticos para fomentar la creación de empleos.
Contenido
(No. 143)
(Approved October 4, 2001)
AN ACT
To exempt from taxation the income financial institutions derive from fees charged for the issue of guarantees covering the payment of the principal and the interest on those obligations issued to finance tourism development projects.
STATEMENT OF MOTIVES
The Legislature of Puerto Rico amended the Charter of the Puerto Rico Government Development Bank through Act No. 75 of September 7, 1993, to allow for the creation of its subsidiary, the Puerto Rico Tourism Development Fund, which would have as its primary purpose the financing of tourist projects which would have a positive impact on the economy of Puerto Rico and foster the creation of jobs. As of June 30, 2001, the Puerto Rico Tourism Development Fund had thirteen (13) active guarantees for a total of $613.4 million, which have allowed for the development of new hotel rooms and the creation of new jobs, to wit:
| Rooms | Direct Jobs | |
|---|---|---|
| Hotels in operation | 1,577 | 2,863 |
| Hotels under construction | 1,469 | 2,618 (pending) |
| Totals | 3,046 | 5,481 |
Taking into consideration the limited capital of the Puerto Rico Tourism Development Fund, and the interest in reducing the risk of the government by transferring a part thereof to the private business sector, this
legislation is introduced to provide incentives to private enterprises to participate by providing financing, guarantees and letters of credit to this sector, which is of such great importance for the creation of jobs in Puerto Rico.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF PUERTO RICO:
Section 1.-Any income from the fees charged by the Puerto Rico Tourism Development Fund, shall be exempted from the payment of the income taxes levied by Act No. 120 of October 31, 1994, as amended, as established by Act No. 17 of September 23, 1948, as amended, for issuing guarantees that totally or partially cover the payment of the principal and the interest on the obligations issued to finance tourism development projects, which, in turn, are paid by the Fund to those financial institutions that share the risk with the Fund to secure said financing, or that issue letters of credit to totally or partially back said guarantees.
Likewise, income derived by the financial institutions from the fees charged for directly issuing guarantees or letters of credit to cover the payment of the principal and the interest on the obligations issued to finance tourism development projects that comply with the administrative policy and the guidelines of the program to secure the financing of tourism development projects approved by the Fund, shall be exempted from the payment of income taxes levied by Act No. 120 of October 31, 1994, as amended.
Section 2.-For the sole purpose of assigning deductions on income exempted under Sections 1018, 1023, and 1024 of Act No. 120 of October 31, 1994, as amended, the fees referred to in Section 1 of this Act shall be treated as non-exempted. In addition, these fees shall not be
deemed as "exempted interest" for the purposes of Sections 1018, 1023, and 1024 of Act No. 120 of October 31, 1994, as amended.
Section 3.-Effectiveness.—This Act shall take effect immediately after its approval.
August 5, 2002
Elba Rosa Rodríguez-Fuentes, Esq., Director of the Office of Legislative Services of the Legislature of Puerto Rico, hereby certifies to the Secretary of State that she has duly compared the English and Spanish texts of $\underline{ ext { Act No. } 143}$ (H.B. 1493) of the $1^{ ext {st }}$ Session of the $14^{ ext {th }}$ Legislature of Puerto Rico, entitled:
AN ACT to exempt from taxation the income financial institutions derive from fees charged for the issue of guarantees covering the payment of the principal and the interest on those obligations issued to finance tourism development projects, and finds the same are complete, true and correct versions of each other.
Elba Rosa Rodríguez-Fuentes