Puerto Rico’s Department of Economic Development and Commerce (DDEC), led by Secretary Carlos Ríos Pierluisi, imposed an $80,000 administrative fine on lobbying firm Politank after a new administrative review found multiple violations of its tax decree, according to a supplementary memo filed Wednesday with Senate President Thomas Rivera Schatz. The review, conducted by the Office of Incentives for Businesses in Puerto Rico (OIN) at Ríos Pierluisi’s request, found Politank failed to file annual reports for 2020, 2021 and 2025; filed late or incomplete reports for 2017, 2019, 2022, 2023 and 2024; and lacked required prior authorization for a transfer or change of control.
The fine was imposed at a rate of $10,000 per non-compliant report.
The $80,000 fine equals $10,000 per missing, late, or incomplete report. Under Act 60 (Puerto Rico Incentives Code), Politank has 20 calendar days to submit required reports, 15 days to complete incomplete filings, and 20 days to request reconsideration and a hearing. Failure to comply could void the decree retroactively to the transfer date, with repeated noncompliance risking full revocation.
Former OIN director Ernesto Zayas had recommended annulling Politank’s decree on July 2, his last day in the post, but Ríos Pierluisi ordered a new review instead, superseding Zayas’s analysis. Politank obtained its export-services tax decree in 2017, taxed at a preferential 4% rate, and was founded by current Chief of Staff Francisco Domenech.