THE 20/22 ACT SOCIETY

I often say there are three sides to a story. Everyone has a natural bias when telling their side. You have one view, the opposing view, and you have the truth usually somewhere in the middle.

After seven years since the enactment of Acts 20 and 22, our Founder Robb Rill highlights the relevance and growth of the Acts and their positive outlook for the upcoming years. He also emphasizes on the impact both laws have made to the local economy in the retail and real estate sectors, as well as the valuable job opportunities created for local professionals. Robb also showcases the significant philanthropic work done by the 20/22 Act Society in support of local charitable organizations.

Our Founder Robb Rill, along with other members of the Society, weigh-in on the reasons why they chose Puerto Rico as their new place to live and to establish their business operations. They explain how the competitiveness of the tax incentives and a qualified professional workforce has positioned Puerto Rico as an attractive business destination even with recent tax changes brought by the federal tax reform. They also highlight how they have inserted themselves in the local community to provide opportunities in betterment of Puerto Rico’s economy.

Puerto Rico’s attractiveness as a business jurisdiction will be jeopardized as a result of continued constant changes to its tax incentive programs.

So, there is a delicate trade-off between the death of the economy and projected controllable death toll rates. Seeing both aspects as extreme opposites is unacceptable and yet there needs to be a tradeoff between the lesser of two evils.

This article reviewed The 20/22 Act Society’s efforts to potentially challenge a retroactive $4,700 tax introduced by Act 40 of April 16, 2020.

While we are supportive of raising the charitable requirement, and it is true we are against forcing donors who previously had a choice to donate to any approved 1101 charity to now be restricted, we do not believe the donations should be mandated to a special legislative list controlled by a few key politicians.

The lawsuit specifically challenges part of a law that was enacted this year – Section 89 of Act 40 of April 16, 2020 – which imposes on Act 22 beneficiaries an additional charge of $4,700 to be paid along with the required submission of the annual report to the Puerto Rico Economic Development & Commerce (DDEC by its Spanish acronym), which manages and issues the decrees. The law states that proceeds from the new annual fee are to be deposited into the commonwealth general fund.

“We have no other choice but to proceed with legal assistance to address the situation of non-compliance with the agreements filed when we signed the decrees of Laws 22 and 60. Changes have constantly been made, altering the laws with which we decided to invest in Puerto Rico.”

THE WEEKLY JOURNAL interviewed separately three investors who decided to bet on Puerto Rico after the creation of Acts 20 and 22 of 2012 (Acts 20/22), which have since been amended and encompassed in Act 60 of 2019, also known as the Incentives Code. These entrepreneurs discussed the island’s investment climate now, the retroactive changes made to the laws that drew them to Puerto Rico, the economic impact of the governor’s executive orders, and how to restore investors’ trust on the island.

Local face mask manufacturer, Made in America, is donating two million masks to Puerto Rico residents to support their fight against COVID-19. The Act 60 (formerly 20/22) decree holders established the manufacturing facility in Carolina, Puerto Rico to produce disposable 3-ply masks to promote access to affordable, quality masks manufactured locally, and not made in China.

In the historic moment that we live in, these grants are of vital importance in accordance with the mission of our foundation, Rill affirmed. We are grateful to our members, partners and collaborators who have gone out of their way to achieve this. It’s a great way to end a difficult year and know our contributions have a meaningful impact.

An IRS report, reviewed by El Nuevo Día in November of last year and prepared at the request of the Democratic congressman José Serrano, revealed that when analyzing the information of 2,331 beneficiaries of Law 22, around 647 paid, together, about $ 558 million to the federal treasury in the five years prior to moving to Puerto Rico.

The total investment in the island is estimated at $ 2.5 billion, and more than $ 200 million has gone directly to the Treasury, not including the payroll tax of the 40 thousand jobs that adds another $ 200 million annually.

This matter of Law 20 and Law 22 I think is partly ignorance. It has generated a lot of discomfort at the level of Congress (of the United States), where different analyzes have been requested from the IRS and the Treasury. It has become quite a significant issue in the media and we want to be reasonable with our actions,

According to a local study, at least 40,000 direct jobs have been created as of 2019. Such contributions to the local job market, as well as to the economic and nonprofit sectors, must not be overlooked at the time of determining the future of both statutes, which is currently being challenged by local and federal regulators and lawmakers.