By The Star Staff
The island Senate on Thursday approved House Joint Resolution 583, which allocates $250 million to the Treasury Department from the General Fund in order to finance the costs related to providing an incentive to certain individuals for the 2023 tax year.
“We downloaded the measure because it is simple and we want to approve it as soon as possible so that the Secretary of the Treasury can make the necessary changes,” Senate Finance Committee Chairman Juan Zaragoza Gómez said in a written statement. “This allocates $250 million, and establishes the methodology for people to file their returns and the Secretary of the Treasury to make a hypothetical calculation of how much that contribution would have been if the tax rates included in the Reform bill that is on the governor’s desk and it has not been signed.”
Zaragoza Gómez also noted that the amount that people will receive depends on each person’s taxable income. In general terms, if your taxable income is less than $100,000, you receive a refund of 8 percent of your tax liability; if it is more than that amount, you receive a 4 percent refund.
“The tax liability is what they took from you during the year, plus what you paid,” the senator added.
At the same time, the second conference report on House Bill 1593 was approved, which proposes amending the “Gaming Machines Law” to provide retirees from the Puerto Rico Police with a payment of at least 50% of their income. Likewise, it seeks to regulate the number of gambling machines per business and their prizes. In addition, it seeks to establish the period in which wholesale owners will be able to pay for all the machine licenses to which they are entitled.
As established in the measure, through the approval of this Law, “the public policy regarding the withdrawal for the Police is expanded, in accordance with the collections received from gambling machines in the street.”
“Government collections are not affected, since the income would be available in the trust created to grant the corresponding benefits,” the bill reads.