Treasury issues credit payouts to seniors, low-income pensioners
By John McPhaul
jpmcphaul@gmail.com
Gov. Pedro Pierluisi Urrutia and Treasury Secretary Francisco Parés Alicea announced on Tuesday that the first million-dollar payout has already been sent to those who applied for credits for people 65 years of age or older and low-income pensioners.
“The Department of the Treasury began to quickly pay credits for adults 65 years of age or older and for low-income pensioners, so today we announce that a payroll of $17,131,074 has already been worked on, which will benefit 35,767 people,” the governor said in a written statement. “My government is committed to helping this sector of the population and we are processing the forms with the greatest agility and efficiency possible so that the money is in the pockets of our people.”
The Treasury secretary stated that “at the moment, the Treasury has received some 39,202 forms for reimbursable credits of $200 and $300.”
“These credits are available for people who did not request the Credit for Work in the Income Tax Return for the year 2021,” Parés Alicea said.
People who qualify can complete and file the return through their personal Unified Internal Revenue System (SURI by its Spanish acronym) accounts or using the services of a returns specialist. Those who do not yet have an account in SURI can refer to Part II-A of the Internal Revenue administrative memo 22-12, https://hacienda.pr.gov/publicaciones/carta-circular-de-rentas- interns-num-22-12 that establishes the registration process, or use a specialist on their behalf, without the need to be registered on the platform, as explained in Part II C-2, of the same memo.
To qualify, applicants must be residents of Puerto Rico and be 65 years of age or older on the last day of the taxable year and their gross income, including Social Security benefits, must be $15,000 or under, or less than $30,000 in the case of married people. They will receive a refundable credit of $200 and married people can claim it individually, as long as the aggregate income does not exceed the limit.
People who are not 65 years old on the last day of the taxable year, but who only received pension income of $4,800 or less, not including Social Security benefits, may also be eligible for help. They must be pensioners of the government or judiciary employees retirement systems, of the Teachers Retirement System, of the University of Puerto Rico or of the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority, or pensioners in the private sector.