P.R. Laws tit. 23, § 693a
(a) For the purposes of this chapter, and when not clearly incompatible with its purposes:
(1) Persons. — Shall mean a corporation, partnership, an individual, or group of individuals, a trust or an estate.
(2) Hotel. — Shall mean any building, any part of it, or any group of buildings, approved by the Puerto Rico Tourism Company, devoted fittingly and in good faith to provide lodging to transient guests, in exchange for payment; it must consist of not less than fifteen (15) guest rooms, and have one (1) or more dining rooms. Its facilities will be operated under standards and conditions of health and efficiency acceptable to the Puerto Rico Tourism Company.
(3) Puerto Rican Paradores (Inns)—(Paradores Puertorriqueños). — Shall mean any hostelry or inn operating under the program sponsored by the Puerto Rico Tourism Company for the establishment of a network of lodging units throughout the Island, in coordination with and under the supervision of Paradores Puertorriquenos, Inc., a subsidiary corporation of the Puerto Rico Tourism Company. Said hostelry shall comply with the provisions of the Regulations of Minimum Requirements for Puerto Rican Paradores, promulgated, put into effect and administered by the Puerto Rico Tourism Company.
(4) Condohotel. — Shall mean any building, any part thereof, or any group of buildings, converted to the horizontal property system, which meets the requirements of a hotel, and that at least fifty percent (50%) of the rooms or apartments are devoted at all times to lodging for transient persons, through leasing by its owners to a corporation or juridical entity under a single administration, on the basis of a rental fee, or rate per day or for a longer specified period.
(5) Guest house. — Means any building, part of it, or group of buildings approved by the Puerto Rico Tourism Company to be operated mainly in the interest of tourism; it must consist of not less than seven (7) transient guest rooms in addition to the necessary rooms for dwellings for its owners or its administrators. The hostel must comply with the provisions of the Regulations of Minimum Requirements for Guest Houses promulgated, implemented and administered by the Puerto Rico Tourism Company.
(6) Eligible business. — Means any business not covered by a tax exemption decree granted under the Industrial Incentives Acts and that is engaged in the operation of:
(A) Hotels, condohotels, Puerto Rican paradores (inns) and guest houses excluding the operation of casinos, gaming rooms, and similar activities; or
(B) theme parks, tourist marinas, port area facilities and other facilities that constitute an inducement to internal and external tourism due to some special attraction derived from their usefulness as source of active or passive entertainment, or amusement; provided, that the Governor of Puerto Rico determines that such operation is necessary and convenient for the development of tourism in Puerto Rico, subject to prior recommendation by the Executive Director of the Puerto Rico Tourism Company, the Economic Development Admistrator, and the Secretary of the Treasury.
(C) Directly renting real or personal property to eligible businesses mentioned in paragraphs (A) and (B) above except property owned, installed or otherwise used under contracts designated financing leases.
The Governor shall exercise his faculty to determine the eligibility of the business to receive the benefits of this chapter under this clause, and shall establish the conditions under which, in his judgment, said benefits can be granted, taking into account the nature of the physical facilities, the number of jobs, the total payroll, the amount of the investment, the location of the project, or other.
(7) Office of Industrial Tax Exemption. — Shall mean the office established by § 10033 of Title 13.
(8) Industrial Incentives Acts. — Shall mean §§ 10024—10037 of Title 13, and former or future acts of a similar nature.
(9) Excise Tax Act. — Shall mean § 9001 of Title 13, and any future act of a similar nature.
(10) Income Tax Act. — Shall mean §§ 8006 et seq. of Title 13, and any future act of a similar nature.
(11) Municipal License Tax Act. — Shall mean §§ 651—652y of Title 21, and any future act of a similar nature.
(12) Related person. — Shall mean a person, as described in § 8424 of Title 13, who has a relationship with a person who operates an eligible business. For the purpose of applying the preceding sentence, the “50 percent” provided by that section shall be substituted by “10 percent” in this chapter. The determination as to whether one person is related to another must be made as of the date that the property is acquired by the eligible business.
History —June 2, 1983, No. 52, p. 94, § 2; May 31, 1988, No. 35, p. 132, § 1.