Esta ley enmienda el Código de Rentas Internas de Puerto Rico de 1994 para reducir de 250 a 15 el número mínimo de declaraciones informativas que deben presentarse al Departamento de Hacienda por medios magnéticos o electrónicos. También establece penalidades por el incumplimiento de este requisito.
(H. B. 1809) (Conference) (No. 45) (Approved January 3, 2003)
To amend subsection one (1) of clause
(b) , and add a clause
(c) to Section 1160 of Act No. 120 of October 31, 1994, as amended, known as the "Puerto Rico Internal Revenue Code of 1994," to request that the delivery to the Department of the Treasury of informative statements by means of magnetic or electronic media apply in those cases in which the person must render at least fifteen (15) statements, and to impose penalties for non compliance with this requirement.
Section 1160 of the Puerto Rico Internal Revenue Code of 1994, as amended, authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury to require delivery to the Department of the Treasury of informative statements using magnetic or electronic media. Clause
(b) (1) of said section sets forth that this requirement shall only apply when the person must render 250 or more statements during the natural year.
The Department of the Treasury receives thousands of informative statements annually, including income tax salary withholding vouchers. Some companies have obtained permission to send same via magnetic or electronic media, which greatly reduces the volume of paper documents that must be physically maintained in the Department. However, most employers and persons who are required to render informative statements persist in sending paper forms, ins spite of the fact that, pursuant to referenced Section
1160, delivery of same in magnetic or electronic media is required when they consist of more than 250 statements.
This situation may be due, in part, to the fact that in Puerto Rico there are few business employers that, because of the volume of their operations, are bound to submit 250 or more of these forms to the Department of the Treasury.
In this high technology era, most businesses have information systems that allow the use of magnetic or electronic media to perform their transactions and for the preparation of the corresponding reports. The Department of the Treasury is also using said modern media to expedite the preparation of its transactions with taxpayers, and to reduce the volume of documents it receives daily as much as possible.
As part of this effort, the Legislative Assembly approved Act No. 58 of April 24, 2002, which empowers the Secretary of the Treasury to exempt taxpayers from sending certain proof required by the Code along with income tax returns to claim certain deductions when it so deems necessary. The Department shall supervise the right to claim the deductions using the information in its computer systems that has been supplied by original sources, such as employers and businesses in general.
Pursuant to the aforementioned, the measure herein proposes the reduction of the informative statements that must be sent to the Department of the Treasury annually by means of magnetic or electronic media from 250 to 15. This shall allow maximum use of the available technological resources, and at the same time, it shall simplify related processes pertaining to the diverse income tax returns that are sent to said Department.
Also, the corresponding penalties shall be set forth for not rendering the informative statements required to be submitted by means of magnetic or electronic media.
Section 1.-Section one (1) of clause
(b) is amended, and a clause
(c) is added to Section 1160 of Act No. 120 of October 31, 1994, as amended, known as the "Puerto Rico Internal Revenue Code of 1994," to read as follows: "Section 1160.-Regulation for the Requirement of Informative Statements Using Magnetic or Electronic Means
(a) ...
(b) Requirements of the Regulations.- On the promulgation of the regulations under clause
(a) , the Secretary- (1) Rendering of informative statements using magnetic or electronic media shall not be required from any person unless said person must render at least fifteen (15) statements during the natural year, and (2) $\ldots$
(c) Not rendering.- If any person who is required to submit informative statements using magnetic or electronic media does not render same in said media, it shall be considered as if such statements have not been rendered, reason for which said person shall be subject to penalties for not rendering the income tax returns or statements set forth in Subsection F."
Article 2.-This Act shall take effect immediately after its approval.
I hereby certify to the Secretary of State that the following Act No. 45 (H.B. 1809) of the $4^{ ext {th }}$ Session of the $14^{ ext {th }}$ Legislature of Puerto Rico:
AN ACT to amend subsection one (1) of clause
(b) , and add a clause
(c) to Section 1160 of Act No. 120 of October 31, 1994, as amended, known as the "Puerto Rico Internal Revenue Code of 1994," to request that the delivery to the Department of the Treasury of informative statements by means of magnetic or electronic media apply in those cases in which the person must render at least fifteen (15) statements, and to impose penalties for non compliance with this requirement, has been translated from Spanish to English and that the English version is correct.
In San Juan, Puerto Rico, today $31^{ ext {st }}$ of January of 2004.
Elba Rosa Rodríguez-Fuentes Director