A copy of your W-2PR or a 480 informative: free in SURI

The W-2PR Withholding Statement is Puerto Rico’s equivalent of the W-2: the document where your employer reports what it paid you and what it withheld in a year. The W-2cPR is the corrected version. The 480-series Informative Declarations report payments that are not wages: services rendered, interest, dividends and other items. Everyone asks for them: banks, mortgage lenders, benefits agencies, immigration lawyers, and sometimes the taxpayer themselves to file an old return. Treasury keeps copies and hands them over, and the time- and money-saving news is that the electronic route is free.

The SURI route is open to any taxpayer with an account: Treasury says any taxpayer can obtain the Withholding Statement or the Informative Declaration free of charge directly through their account. Anyone without a username and password registers from SURI’s home page following the system’s instructions. For the paper route, if the applicant is a representative, the application must include Form SC 2745, Power of Attorney and Declaration of Representation, or a letter signed by the taxpayer; if the taxpayer is a corporation, the application must include a letter on the corporation’s or entity’s letterhead signed by the owner or president. The applicant must present a current photo ID, with the name legible and signed. Treasury specifies which IDs are valid: they must be issued by agencies, municipalities, public corporations or instrumentalities of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico or of the United States, and they include a driver’s licence, voter card, public sector student card, public sector employee card, veteran identification card and passport — and in the case of a passport, those issued by any foreign authority are accepted.

• Through SURI: having an account with a username and password, or registering from SURI’s home page.Verified against the official source
• On paper: a current photo ID, with the name legible and signed, issued by an agency, municipality, public corporation or instrumentality of Puerto Rico or the United States.Verified against the official source
• If a representative applies: Form SC 2745 (Power of Attorney and Declaration of Representation) or a letter signed by the taxpayer.Verified against the official source
• If the taxpayer is a corporation: a letter on the entity’s letterhead signed by the owner or president.Verified against the official source

• A $5.00 Internal Revenue stamp, code 5120, for each document requested on paper. Do not send cash.
• A copy of the photo ID of the taxpayer and of the representative, as applicable.
• Veterans: Form DD-214, Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty, so the document is free of charge.
• Surviving spouse of a veteran: marriage certificate, death certificate and the deceased veteran’s DD-214.

1. 1

   Step 1: Try SURI first: it is free and immediate

   Treasury says it without conditions: any taxpayer can obtain the W-2PR or W-2cPR Withholding Statement and the Form 480 Informative Declaration free of charge directly through their SURI account. Log in with your username and password, select Más Opciones, and in the Servicios frecuentes section click the "Imprima formularios W-2PR o informativas" link. Select the period and click Search. If you do not have a username and password, go to SURI’s home page and in the Regístrese section follow the system’s instructions.

2. 2

   Step 2: If you are a veteran, do not pay even on the paper route

   Treasury publishes it in two places on the same page: if the taxpayer is a veteran they must include Form DD-214, Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty, so the document is free of charge. And if the taxpayer was a veteran and has died, the surviving spouse has the same right to request a free copy on producing the marriage certificate, the death certificate and the deceased veteran’s DD-214. It is an exemption rarely mentioned at the counter.

3. 3

   Step 3: If you go on paper, buy the right stamp

   You must include with the application a $5.00 Internal Revenue stamp, code 5120, for each document requested. Treasury expressly asks that cash not be sent. If you request three years of informatives, that is three stamps. The same requirement applies to copies of forms 480.5, 480.6B.1, 480.30 and 499 R-3.

4. 4

   Step 4: Bring one of the IDs they accept

   The applicant must present a current photo ID, with the name legible and signed. And it must be one of those Treasury lists: issued by agencies, municipalities, public corporations or instrumentalities of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico or of the United States. The qualifying ones are a driver’s licence, voter card, public sector student card, public sector employee card, veteran identification card and passport. In the case of passports, those issued by any foreign authority are accepted.

5. 5

   Step 5: If you are requesting for someone else, bring the power of attorney

   If the applicant is a representative, the application must include Form SC 2745, Power of Attorney and Declaration of Representation, or a letter signed by the taxpayer. If the taxpayer is a corporation, the application must include a letter on the corporation’s or entity’s letterhead, signed by the owner or president. And you must include a copy of the photo ID of both the taxpayer and the representative, as applicable.

6. 6

   Step 6: Submit or mail the completed application

   The application must be completed in full. It can be submitted at any Taxpayer Service Centre, or mailed to Departamento de Hacienda, Sección de Archivo Fotocopias, Negociado de Procesamiento de Planillas, PO Box 9022501, San Juan, PR 00902-4140.

SURI, at suri.hacienda.pr.gov, for the free and immediate copy: Más Opciones, Servicios frecuentes section, "Imprima formularios W-2PR o informativas" link. On paper: any Taxpayer Service Centre, or by mail to Departamento de Hacienda, Sección de Archivo Fotocopias, Negociado de Procesamiento de Planillas, PO Box 9022501, San Juan, PR 00902-4140.

• Going to an office and paying $5 when the copy is free from SURI.
• Being a veteran and not including the DD-214, which makes the document free.
• Being the surviving spouse of a veteran and not knowing you have the same right.
• Buying one stamp for several documents: it is $5 for each document requested.
• Sending cash instead of the Internal Revenue stamp, code 5120.
• Bringing an expired, unsigned ID or one with an illegible name.
• Requesting for someone else without SC 2745 or a letter signed by the taxpayer.
• Confusing the W-2PR with the 480 informatives: they are different documents.

These are the government pages this guide is based on.

• Departamento de Hacienda de Puerto Rico

  Hacienda

  hacienda.pr.gov

• Treasury — Employers and Withholding Agents

  hacienda

  hacienda.pr.gov