Puerto Rico R&D incentives advisory · San Juan
Executive Services PR advises enterprise taxpayers whose Puerto Rico position is driven by research and development — cutting-edge technology and biologics development — from qualification and independent CPA-certified audit, through DDEC and Hacienda certification, and on to monetizing the issued credits through our investor network.
Or submit a structured R&D credit assessment and we will come back to you with a qualification read.
End-to-end, under one roof
Current framework — Act 60-2019
Act 60-2019, the Puerto Rico Incentives Code, is the current consolidated framework. These are the levers we model together for an enterprise taxpayer, rather than in isolation.
50% / 20%
A fixed 50% credit on direct R&D investment deployed in Puerto Rico into experimental activities, and 20% on indirect investment deployed off-island or into incidental activities — claimed across more than one taxable year and transferable once certified.
4%
Eligible export services and industrial income taxed at a fixed preferential rate under an Act 60-2019 decree, rather than at standard corporate rates.
100%
Distributions of earnings and profits from an eligible business are exempt under decree, which changes how repatriation is modeled at group level.
Act 60-2019
The Puerto Rico Incentives Code consolidated the island’s incentive statutes. Every new decree and every new R&D credit claim is evaluated under it.
Figures, statutory references and monetization ranges shown on this site are indicative advisory context for planning discussions only. Actual benefits depend on your decree terms, your qualified activity, and the applicable Puerto Rico rules — principally the Puerto Rico Incentives Code (Act 60-2019) and §3030.01. Nothing here is tax, legal or accounting advice, and no engagement exists until documented in writing.
Industries we work with
Advanced materials and specialty chemicals, space systems, semiconductors and electronics, energy storage and grid infrastructure, robotics and industrial automation, pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, medical devices, diagnostics, nutraceuticals, technology, software, AI, cybersecurity, manufacturing, green energy, water technology, resource recovery, food and beverage, agriscience and aerospace and defense. They sit within an hour of each other and share the same engineering talent, supplier base and incentive framework.
R&D sectors we serve
Grid status
21 corridors online across 21 sectors, each plotted from its real coordinates. Hover any node to trace which sectors share it.
Aerostructures, MRO, avionics and defense-adjacent engineering concentrated around the island’s former airbase corridors, where certification-driven work generates continuous qualifying activity.
Qualifying activity we document
Where it clusters
Typical incentive stack
R&D activity credit alongside manufacturing treatment and job-creation enhancements under Act 60-2019.
Assess this sector’s positionThe coastline and every corridor marker are projected from real geographic coordinates. Corridor locations are indicative of where each sector concentrates on the island and are shown for orientation only. They are not a client list and do not represent any specific taxpayer or facility.
Where the research is
The two frontiers this practice is deliberately built around. Both generate substantial qualifying activity in Puerto Rico, and both are routinely under-documented relative to what the statute allows.
Cutting-edge technology
Model architecture and training work, platform and systems engineering, cryptographic and threat-detection development. These groups are usually export-services structured, and their research is the most consistently under-claimed on the island because the qualifying activity lives in commit history and experiment logs rather than in a laboratory.
Biologics development
Upstream and downstream bioprocess development, formulation and API route work, analytical method validation, device design transfer and verification testing. This is the island’s largest qualifying expenditure base, and the sector where audit-grade substantiation determines what the credit is actually worth.
R&D credit estimator
Fixed 50% credit on direct R&D investment you deploy in Puerto Rico into experimental activities, and a fixed 20% credit on indirect investment deployed outside Puerto Rico or into incidental activities. Enter two figures to see your credit, how it phases across taxable years, and the net cash if you monetize it.
How your credit is calculated
Two fixed rates. Nothing else to guess: split your annual R&D investment into what you deploy in Puerto Rico on experimental work and what you deploy outside Puerto Rico or on incidental work, and the credit follows.
Direct — 50% credit
R&D investment deployed in Puerto Rico into experimental activities.
Formulation trials, API route development, process characterization and validation runs, analytical method development performed on the island.
Indirect — 20% credit
R&D investment deployed outside Puerto Rico, or into incidental activities.
Off-island CRO/CMO work, foreign parent R&D charges, regulatory publishing, routine release testing, general plant overhead.
50% × direct PR experimental investment+20% × indirect investment=your R&D tax credit
Step 1 — Enter your two figures
Use annual amounts. Drag for a fast pass, or type exact figures from your general ledger.
Everything you spend on experimental activities physically carried out on the island: technical payroll, prototyping, trial and pilot runs, testing, and materials consumed in experimentation.
$4,000,000 × 50%=$2,000,000
Everything deployed outside Puerto Rico, plus incidental and supporting activity: off-island vendors and affiliates, tooling and subscriptions, administration, documentation and routine work.
$1,000,000 × 20%=$200,000
Step 2 — Your profile (optional context)
These do not change the 50% and 20% rates. They tailor the classification guidance above and the notes we send with your assessment.
You are already inside the current framework. The work is classifying, substantiating and certifying the claim.
Step 3 — Convert the credit to cash (optional)
Price a buyer in our network pays for certified, transferable credits. Leave it as is if you intend to use the credit against your own Puerto Rico income tax.
Indicative position
Your R&D tax credit
The two fixed rates applied to the two figures you entered.
$2,200,000
From direct PR investment
50% of $4,000,000 deployed in Puerto Rico on experimental activities.
$2,000,000
From indirect investment
20% of $1,000,000 deployed outside Puerto Rico or on incidental activities.
$200,000
Blended rate on total R&D spend
Across $5,000,000 of total annual R&D investment.
44.0%
Claimed per taxable year
Modeled evenly across two taxable years, as PR R&D credits are generally not taken in a single return.
$1,100,000
Net cash if monetized
At 90¢ on the dollar, after a 2% brokerage assumption.
$1,936,000
Act 60-2019 §3030.01 basis. This models the Puerto Rico research and development activity credit under §3030.01 of the Puerto Rico Incentives Code, at a fixed 50% on direct R&D investment deployed in Puerto Rico into experimental activities and a fixed 20% on indirect investment deployed outside Puerto Rico or into incidental activities. The credit is claimed against Puerto Rico income tax under your decree terms.
The only real work is the split. Getting each dollar into the correct bucket — and documenting why — is what we certify. Where a cost sits in both, we allocate it and support the allocation.
Entity note. Cleanest structure for holding a decree and receiving certified, transferable credits.
Indicative modeling only, based on the figures you entered. It is not a valuation, an opinion, or a representation that a credit will be certified, issued or purchased at any particular price.
Comprehensive solution
Most firms hand off the audit, the government correspondence, or the monetization. We do not. Executive Services PR performs the audit and AUP work in-house and stays with the claim through to the cash.
01
Prepared in-house by Executive Services PR as your R&D advisor of record — not outsourced to a third party.
02
Sizing, substantiating and optimizing the claim under Act 60-2019 §3030.01, reconciled against your decree terms.
03
Contemporaneous documentation tying each qualified project to the technical uncertainty it resolved.
04
We correspond and liaise directly with the Department of Economic Development and the Treasury Department through certification and issuance.
05
We broker certified credits through our network of private equity funds, investors, industrial clients and other large Puerto Rico taxpayers.
06
Government representation, annual reporting and the compliance calendar that keeps a decree in good standing.
Monetization & liquidity
Puerto Rico R&D credits are transferable once certified and issued. We maintain a deep network of private equity funds, investors, industrial clients and other large Puerto Rico taxpayers, and we broker into that network to maximize the liquidity you realise.
Monetization pricing is market- and timing-dependent. Nothing here is a guarantee that a credit will be certified, issued, or purchased at any particular price.
Client experience
Published client feedback from our Puerto Rico incentives and decree practice.
“I recently partnered with Executive Services PR to set up my business entity in Puerto Rico and manage the associated administrative tasks. The service was exceptional and their knowledge of Puerto Rico's business regulations is impressive. Their staff explained technical aspects clearly, ensuring I understood the process and my obligations as a business owner.”
Amen S.
Entity formation & corporate administration
“We used Executive Services PR to get an Act 60 decree for our Maritime Tourism company. We initially tried to do it on our own, but it was incredibly time-consuming and difficult to navigate. ESPR helped get us through the process from beginning to end and removed any possible headaches this would have caused. I would highly recommend their service.”
Todd F.
Act 60-2019 decree procurement
“Navigating tax incentives for our boutique hotel in west Puerto Rico has been a nightmare. Their expertise has been a godsend. Unlike big-name firms, their staff is friendly and keeps me updated, so I am not constantly chasing them. They have kept the project on course, coordinated government meetings, and provided comprehensive tax planning with Act 60 incentives.”
Victor S.
Incentives planning & government coordination
On the ground in San Juan
R&D credit work in Puerto Rico is won in front of DDEC and Hacienda. We are based on Ave Ponce de León, we appear on behalf of our clients, and we keep the file moving without you chasing us for updates.
R&D sectors served
21 sectors
Proprietary Act 60-2019 agent
We built a specialist agent on our own reading of the Puerto Rico Incentives Code, with a working specialty in the §3030.01 research and development incentives. Put a real classification question to it — which activity is direct in-Puerto-Rico experimental investment at 50%, which falls to 20%, what the certification path requires — and get a structured answer in seconds.
Sample question
“Our Barceloneta plant runs process development, tech transfer and validation work. Which of those activities land in the direct 50% bucket and which fall to 20%?”
Indicative advisory context only — not tax, legal or accounting advice. The agent frames the position; the firm delivers the qualification opinion, the CPA-certified audit and AUP work, and the claim.
Next step
Book a 30-minute intro call to pressure-test whether your Puerto Rico research activity supports a credit claim worth pursuing. If you are already decided, begin onboarding and we will open the file.
