Legislature passes bill to exempt items from IVU ahead of hurricane season
By The Star Staff
A bill to exempt basic necessities and equipment for the hurricane season from the payment of the sales and use tax (IVU by its Spanish acronym) was approved by the island Legislature and sent for Gov. Pedro Pierluisi Urrutia’s signature Tuesday.
The items and equipment included in the measure will be exempt from the IVU during the last weekend of May (Friday to Sunday). The measure authored by Rep. Ángel Matos García seeks to alleviate the economic burden on citizens in their preparation for facing any emergency in the event of a major storm.
“I thank the Senate of Puerto Rico, which yesterday unanimously, as in the House, approved this measure of justice for consumers,” Matos García said in a written statement. “Preparation purchases for the hurricane season amount to some $1.7 billion in the United States and Puerto Rico, so what we seek with this measure is to help with citizen preparation for an atmospheric event. With this weekend exempt from the IVU, in just 36 specific items, the country will be in a better position for the hurricane season.”
House Bill 478 seeks to add Section 4030.28 to Chapter 3 of Act 1-2011, as amended, known as the Puerto Rico Internal Revenue Code of 2011, for the purpose of exempting the payment of the IVU on various essential items and equipment at the beginning of the hurricane season, and for other related purposes.