Most coverage of Puerto Rico's Act 38-2026 compares two tax rates: 0% for Resident Individual Investor applications filed by December 31, 2026, and 4% for applications filed afterward. For someone touring homes at Dorado Beach Resort this fall, a quieter change matters more. The filing date also decides whose name can go on the deed of the home you will be required to buy, and that purchase can happen well after the deadline.
A buyer who files on December 30 and a buyer who files on January 2 could close on similar homes in 2027, and the second buyer will have fewer ways to hold title.
The date that counts is a portal timestamp
The Department of Economic Development and Commerce, known as DDEC, explained in Informative Bulletin 2026-004 on April 24, 2026 how it reads the cutoff. Applications count as filed under the old terms when they are received "no later than December 31, 2026 at 11:59pm, per the Incentives Portal filing fee time stamp confirmation."
The next sentence of the bulletin carries the real estate consequence:
"Decree applications filed with the OIN before January 1, 2027, shall retain all substantive benefits in effect at the time of filing, including the 0% fixed tax rate on net capital gains, interests, and dividends, as well as the primary residential property acquisition rules in effect prior to the amendments introduced by Act No. 38-2026, regardless of the decree's approval date."
"Regardless of the decree's approval date" matters because the home-purchase clock starts at the decree, not at the application. DDEC's January 12, 2026 Circular Letter 2026-001 says an investor must acquire the residence within two years after receiving the decree. So a December 2026 filing can lock in the older titling rules for a closing in 2027 or 2028.
Getting the timestamp is not just a matter of clicking submit. In an August 13, 2026 alert, a CPA firm wrote that the application must be complete and the fee paid, that some government documents can take weeks to obtain, and that a missing-item notice gives ten days to cure. It also noted that Puerto Rico does not publish an average processing time.
Same house, two sets of deed rules
Under the older rules, as Circular Letter 2026-001 describes them, DDEC's Office of Incentives for Businesses recognizes four ways to own the residence, as long as it is bought from someone who is not a related person:
- As the sole individual owner
- Jointly with a spouse
- Jointly with a partner in a relationship analogous to marriage, which the circular grounds in Puerto Rico's 2020 Civil Code
- Through a Puerto Rico-organized legal entity, if the investor is its only owner or owns it only with a spouse or qualifying partner
Options three and four require a request to amend the decree. The office approves it after weighing the full circumstances and whether recognizing the arrangement serves the purposes of the law.
Act 38-2026 shortens that list for anyone filing on or after January 1, 2027. The amended Section 6020.10(c) of the Incentives Code requires the residence to be held in full title, registered or pending registration with the Puerto Rico Property Registry, in the investor's name, jointly with a spouse, or in a grantor trust as described in Section 2022.07. DDEC's bulletin says "pending registration" means a public deed that has been filed for registration.
| Application timestamped by Dec 31, 2026 | Application filed Jan 1, 2027 or later | |
|---|---|---|
| Interest, dividends, post-move capital gains | Exempt through Dec 31, 2035 | 4% through Dec 31, 2055 |
| Gains on appreciation from before the move, recognized after 10 years of residency | 5% through 2035 | 5% through 2055 |
| Prior-residency test | Not a Puerto Rico resident Jan 17, 2006 to Jan 17, 2012 | Not a resident for the 6 years before relocating |
| Who can hold title to the residence | Individual, spouse, qualifying partner, or eligible Puerto Rico entity | Individual, spouse, or grantor trust |
| Registry status of the deed | No registry requirement in the pre-2027 rules | Registered or filed for registration |
Those pre-2027 terms are the default. Both the rate and the titling rules can change for a holder who later extends the decree to 2055.
The bulletin is direct about the entity route. Decrees already approved, and applications filed before January 1, 2027, "may still acquire the primary residential property through an eligible legal entity organized in Puerto Rico."
The rules both groups share
Some requirements apply no matter which side of the deadline an application lands on, and they come up during the purchase itself:
- The seller has to be unrelated. The statute requires buying from a person or company "totalmente desvinculada y ajena," meaning wholly unrelated to the investor. The circular uses the Internal Revenue Code's definition of a related person: a sibling, spouse, or direct ancestor or descendant. It also notes that the definition says nothing about in-laws.
- It has to be a purchase. The circular describes the requirement as acquiring title by purchase. It lists no lease route and no minimum value. The same rule covers a resale condo and a residence at La Cala, which El Nuevo DÃa reported in August 2026 is marketed as 13 Ritz-Carlton Reserve residences priced from $33.5 million to $40.5 million.
- Ownership has to continue. The investor must keep full ownership and principal-residence use for the life of the decree and report it each year. The circular accepts a sworn letter as the certification and lists a principal-residence exemption certificate from CRIM, the municipal revenue collection center, as supporting proof.
- Selling the entity means replacing the house. If shares or a controlling interest in the entity that holds the residence pass to someone else, the investor must show in that year's annual report that another qualifying residence has been acquired.
Existing decree holders who extend before they buy
Act 38-2026 lets current decree holders, including anyone whose decree is approved on an application filed before 2027, ask DDEC to extend the decree to December 31, 2055. According to the bulletin, an approved extension moves the decree to the 4% rate starting January 1 of the year the request is filed.
A holder who requests the extension before buying the residence, and before reporting it in the annual report for the year of purchase, becomes subject to the new titling limits. For someone with a decree who is still looking at homes in Dorado Beach Resort, the order of those two steps decides whether the entity route remains available.
Where the law stands this fall
Governor Jenniffer González-Colón signed Act 38-2026, and its text says it took effect immediately on approval. DDEC gives the enactment date as March 10, 2026. Puerto Rico's consolidated Incentives Code lists the law with a date of March 19, 2026. DLA Piper's March 12 alert said the law was pending final endorsement from the Financial Oversight and Management Board. DDEC has applied it to applications and decrees since its April bulletin.
Act 38 also keeps the annual obligations in place. Circular Letter 2026-001 confirms the $10,000 minimum annual donation and says that starting in 2026, DDEC will require certification of the $2,500 contribution to the Social Equality Fund.
This post summarizes public rules and is general information, not legal, tax, or financial advice. Please confirm how any of this applies to you with your own tax counsel and notary before you file or sign.
Frequently Asked Questions
If I file in December but my decree arrives in mid-2027, which ownership rules apply to my purchase? According to DDEC's bulletin, applications filed before January 1, 2027 keep the pre-amendment residential property rules regardless of when the decree is approved.
Does the deed have to be fully recorded before it counts for a 2027 filer? The statute accepts title that is "registered or pending registration," and DDEC defines pending as a public deed filed with the Property Registry.
Who can I contact at DDEC with questions about the bulletin? The bulletin lists the Office of Incentives for Businesses at (787) 764-6363 and [email protected]. Applications and amendment requests go through the Incentives Portal.
If your Act 60 application and your Dorado Beach Resort home search are on the same calendar this fall, the team at Unique Properties Realty PSC can help you line up showings, offers, and closing dates with the timeline you and your advisors set, in English or Spanish. Connect with Dorado's local specialists.
