LEGISLATORS LOOK TO LOWER IVA RATE
From The San Juan Daily Star:
Lawmakers at the island House of Representatives on Thursday continued
fine-tuning the proposed Tax Reform with the goal of incorporating mea-
sures that would help reduce the value-added tax to a rate lower than
the original 16 percent. The STAR learned that lawmakers were evaluating
how much money a proposed tax on soft drinks would produce as well as
the proposed 6 percent tax on megastores’ transfer pricing. “We are eva-
luating to see if the [value-added] tax can be reduced as much as possi-
ble,” one lawmaker said. The House is evaluating reducing the proposed
value-added tax (IVA by its Spanish acronym) to between 12 percent and
14 percent and creating a reduced sales and use tax for businessto-busi-
ness transactions.
PR BIRTH CERTIFICATES SOLD TO IMMIGRANTS
From The Bradenton Herald:
Over the last 12 months, half a dozen cases have popped up in Miami federal
court involving defendants who have illegally procured Puerto Rican birth
certificates to obtain passports or driver licenses. A State Department
spokeswoman said she was going to look into the matter, but ultimately did
not respond to an email query from el Nuevo Herald. A spokesman for the
Commonwealth of Puerto Rico Federal Affairs Administration also did not
respond to an email query from el Nuevo Herald. When the Puerto Rican birth
certificate law was enacted in December 2013, officials in San Juan said it
was a tool to combat widespread identity theft on the island.
POWERBALL JACKPOT SOLD IN PUERTO RICO
From Caribbean Business:
Saturday’s winning Powerball numbers were on a ticket sold in Puerto Rico.
It was bought in Sabana Grande’s Rodríguez Supermarket, and the holder
will be entitled to the $50 million jackpot, meaning he or she can collect
the winnings in a lump sum of $26.8 million after taxes or 30 annual pay-
ments starting Monday. The Powerball winning numbers were 13-22-23-29 -31;
the red Power number, 17; and the Power Play number, 3.
TAUBMAN INCREASES MALL OF SJ OWNERSHIP
Taubman Centers Inc. announced the acquisition of an additional 15 percent
interest in The Mall of San Juan, pushing its ownership in the recently
opened center to 95 percent. The additional interest was acquired at cost,
while New Century Development Inc. will retain the remaining 5 percent
interest in the project, the company said.
PR NEW LUNG CANCER LOWER THAN US
From Outbreak News Today:
Puerto Rico has the lowest incidence rate of new lung cancer compared
with all other races and ethnic groups in the United States, according
to a study published last week in the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. The report also
shows that Puerto Rico has a lower incidence rate of female breast
cancer compared with U.S. non-Hispanic white and black women.
