JD Supra Puerto Rico

- Publisher:
- JD Supra
- Publication date:
- 2019-04-29
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Latest documents
- Puerto Rico Issues Guidance For Nursing Rooms In Workplace
The Puerto Rico Women’s Advocate Office has published Guidelines for the Establishment of Nursing Rooms with the purpose of ensuring uniformity and setting forth all aspects employers should consider when establishing a nursing room in the workplace...
- Puerto Rico’s New Guidelines on Workplace Harassment/Bullying Clarify Protocols for Employers
The Puerto Rico Department of Labor recently released guidelines on Law 90-2020, which seeks to prohibit workplace harassment and bullying, whether or not tied to a protected category.
- The Women’s Advocate Office of Puerto Rico Publishes Guidelines on Lactation Room Standards
On February 11, 2021, the Women’s Advocate Office (WAO) published Guidelines on the Acclimatization of Lactation Rooms (Guidelines), which apply to both public- and private-sector employers.
- Puerto Rico Government Plan-to-Private Plan Rollovers Allowed
On January 20, 2021, the Puerto Rico Department of the Treasury (Departamento de Hacienda, commonly known as “Hacienda”) issued Administrative Determination No. 21-01 (AD 21-01), which provides that lump-sum distributions from the retirement plan for Puerto Rico government employees are eligible for direct and indirect rollovers into Puerto Rico–qualified retirement plans maintained by private-sector employers. In practice, however, this determination is unlikely to have much of an impact on the operation of private-sector employer plans.
- Dealing With Missing Participants in Terminating Puerto Rico 401(k) Plans
For a host of legal and practical reasons, the only feasible alternative for disposing of the accounts of missing participants in a terminating 401(k) or other defined contribution retirement plan qualified only in Puerto Rico (commonly known as a “P.R.-only plan”) is, after making reasonable efforts to locate the missing participants, depositing with the proper state unclaimed property fund(s) the retirement money of those participants who cannot be located. Sending the money to the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC), completing direct rollovers into individual retirement accounts or annuities (IRA), and opening bank accounts for the missing participants generally are not viable options.
- Do Not Take a Shot in the Dark: Important Considerations for Puerto Rico Employers Eyeing Mandatory COVID-19 Vaccination Programs
Multiple states and jurisdictions are reporting a deadly winter spike of COVID-19 infections. An excess of 220,000 cases of COVID-19 were reported in early December, a dramatic increase from the 44,783 reported in October. Nevertheless, a glint of hope flashes within the gloom of the COVID-19 pandemic: Operation Warp Speed, a partnership program between the public and private sectors to develop, produce, and mass distribute a COVID vaccine.
- Puerto Rico: A Testing Dilemma in Returning to Work Scenarios and the Governor’s Most Recent Executive Order
In conclusion, employers have multiple CDC-approved approaches to choose from when determining their return-to-work protocols. Employers opting for the test-based strategy are protected under the ADA so long as it is carried out according to current CDC guidelines. A case-by-case analysis should therefore be performed taking into consideration the particularities of each workplace and the circumstances surrounding the employee.
- Puerto Rico: Pandemic Assistance Packages and their Effect on Christmas Bonus Exemption for Private Employers
On November 16, 2020, the Puerto Rico Department of Labor and Human Resources (“PR DOL”) issued Circular Letter No. 2020-05, discussing considerations for private sector employers when requesting an exemption from paying the Christmas Bonus to their employees where the employer received COVID-19-related economic assistance.
- So Very Hard to Go (Not)! In Pursuit of Puerto Rican Tax Incentives
So Very Hard to Go - The Commonwealth of Puerto Rico has had a hard time in the last ten years. PR has suffered a combination of devastating events including the Island’s bankruptcy, a hurricane and COVID19. The Puerto Rican government introduced an incredible tax incentive program in 2012 to attract investment on the Island. All the unforeseen obstacles got in the way in my opinion. In my view, the Number 1 problem, is that the business owner or investor cannot make the sale to the spouse to move to Puerto Rico. No one would ever turn their back on significant tax incentive programs but for the dilemma, “How do I convince my spouse to move?” Please see full Publication below for more information.
- Isla del Encanto – Introducing Boricua Split Dollar
This article focuses on a combination of techniques, the use of a Puerto Rican tax-exempt company and the loan method of split dollar life insurance. What’s different in this approach is the fact that the business owner does not need to relocate to Puerto Rico. However, I am not going to trace the path the way that I usually do in my articles to legally accomplish the tax benefits of Puerto Rico without relocation. This information is the “secret sauce” that taxpayers need to pay for. Nothing personal, just business! The combination of the loan method of split dollar provides a mechanism for repatriating profits from the Puerto Rican tax exempt company to a trust-owned life insurance for the taxpayer’s benefit. Please see full Publication below for more information.
Featured documents
- In the Money – Puerto Rico Me Encanta! Puerto Rican Hedge Funds
Overview - Every financial media outlet (including Bloomberg and the Wall Street Journal) in the last several weeks has run an article on the possibility of billionaire hedge fund manager becoming a Puerto Rican resident. Having grown up in the Panama Canal Zone, and being a...
- Price-Fixing Executive Dealt Tough Sentence for Role in Cartel
On December 6, 2013, Frank Peake, former president of Sea Star Line LLC, was sentenced to five years in prison and ordered to pay a $25,000 fine for his role in fixing prices for rates and surcharges for freight transportation in coastal waters between the United States and Puerto Rico. The...
- Doing Business in Latin America and the Caribbean: Puerto Rico
In 1493, Christopher Columbus arrived in Puerto Rico and claimed the island for the Spanish Crown. Spain controlled the island for most of the next four centuries until 1898, when it ceded Puerto Rico to the United States as part of the Treaty of Paris, which ended the Spanish-American War. &#...
- IRS Permits Puerto Rico-Qualified Plans in U.S. Group Trusts, Extends Deadline for Certain Puerto Rico Spin-Offs
The U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) recently issued Revenue Ruling 2014-24, which expressly permits retirement plans that are tax qualified only in Puerto Rico (Puerto Rico-only plans) to continue to pool assets with U.S.-qualified plans in Revenue Ruling 81-100 group trusts (group trusts) now...
- Puerto Rico Governor Signs Law Allowing Employees to Use Accrued Paid Sick Leave to Care for Qualified Family Members
Governor Alejandro García Padilla recently signed Law No. 251 (House Bill 695), a measure that provides caregiver leave under Puerto Rico law. This law, which is effective immediately, amends the Puerto Rico Minimum Wage, Vacation, and Sick Leave Act, Act No. 180 of July 27, 1998 (hereinafter “Act...
- Is Renewable Energy in Puerto Rico Back On Your Radar?
Renewable energy deal discussions centered on projects in Puerto Rico have been difficult – particularly for project owners – over the past few years. The foundations of most of the projects on the island were power purchase agreements (PPAs) with PREPA, the utility which, as an organ of the...
- Puerto Rico Equal Pay Act Aims to Close Gender Pay Gap
On March 8, 2017, Puerto Rico continued the overhaul of its employment laws by enacting, with immediate effect, Act No. 16, known as the “Puerto Rico Equal Pay Act.” The act is not only similar to the federal Equal Pay Act of 1963, it also requires that Puerto Rico courts interpret the act in...
- Hurricane Maria's Aftermath: Highlights of Available Government Assistance for Puerto Rico Residents
On September 20, 2017, Puerto Rico suffered the catastrophic impact of Hurricane Maria, which savaged the Island, taking down all communications systems, severely damaging or completely destroying many homes and roads, and causing a disastrous impact on the Island’s vegetation and agriculture....
- Puerto Rico Department of the Treasury Announces 2018 Limits on Qualified Retirement Plans
On December 15, 2017, the Puerto Rico Department of the Treasury (the “PR Treasury”) issued Tax Policy Circular Letter No. 17-02 (“CL 7-02”) announcing the 2018 applicable contribution limits for qualified retirement plans....
- Puerto Rico Heading Towards At-Will Employment
On May 30, 2018, the Puerto Rican Senate voted in favor of overturning an Act that provided significant protections to Puerto Rican employees. The repeal would roll back the current law, Act No. 80, which prohibits employees from being terminated without just cause, thus making it significantly...