The tax preparer may not charge you for the 65-and-over credit

It is a programme that pays the tax preparer so they serve you for free. The logic is simple: Treasury reimburses the specialist, and in exchange the specialist may not charge you. If you are being charged for that service, the specialist is not inside this programme.

The programme is aimed at low-income taxpayers sixty-five (65) or older applying for the refundable tax credits under Section 1052.02 of the Code. Whoever provides the service must be a Specialist in Returns, Declarations or Refund Claims duly registered in the Treasury Department’s Registry. No Treasury Department employee may participate.

• Being a low-income taxpayer sixty-five (65) or older applying for the refundable tax credits under Section 1052.02 of the Code.Verified against the official source
• That whoever assists you be a Specialist duly registered in the Treasury Department’s Registry of Specialists in Returns, Declarations or Refund Claims.Verified against the official source

Information pending verification.

1. 1

   Step 1: The golden rule: they may not charge you

   It is in the text the Act adds to the Code, and it is the condition for the specialist to collect their reimbursement from Treasury: “To be entitled to this reimbursement, the Specialist may not charge for their services the taxpayer they assist in completing and electronically filing the return.” If you are charged, that specialist is not participating in the programme: you can look for one who is.

2. 2

   Step 2: Check they are a registered Specialist

   It is not just anyone who fills out returns. The reimbursement is granted “to every Specialist duly registered in the Registry of Specialists in Returns, Declarations or Refund Claims” under the Code. And the specialist must sign the submitted return as preparer: that is part of what the law requires for them to be paid.

3. 3

   Step 3: The specialist can register you in SURI

   The statement of motives explains the service’s reach: duly registered Specialists with a current number “may assist this senior population in the process of registering in the Department’s Unified Internal Revenue System (SURI), as well as in filing the form to apply for the refundable tax credits.” Registering in SURI is exactly where most people get stuck.

4. 4

   Step 4: They are the one who must check your eligibility

   The law puts that burden on the professional, not on you: “It shall be the Specialist’s responsibility to verify the taxpayer is eligible for the credit before completing the application.”

5. 5

   Step 5: What the specialist collects, and for which years

   It is worth reading precisely because the law distinguishes two periods. For applications relating to tax year 2019, “the Specialist shall receive a reimbursement of up to twenty-five (25) dollars for each Credit Return for Persons 65 or Older and Compensatory Credit for Low-Income Pensioners submitted through the Unified Internal Revenue System (SURI) and signed by them as preparer.” For assistance preparing returns for tax years beginning after January 1, 2019, the law says “the Treasury Department shall identify resources to implement this Program,” without restating an amount. We publish no figure for those years because the law publishes none.

6. 6

   Step 6: No Treasury employee may participate

   The law expressly prohibits it: “No Treasury Department employee may participate in this program.” It is a conflict-of-interest safeguard, and worth knowing.

7. 7

   Step 7: The specialist’s reimbursement is tax-exempt

   A note for the professional: “The reimbursement the Specialist receives from the Department for participating in this assistance program shall be exempt from income tax, including the alternate basic tax and the alternative minimum tax.” And the Code’s provisions on Specialists’ duties and responsibilities continue to apply to returns submitted under this subsection.

The Treasury Department administers the Specialists Registry and the programme, and the filing is done electronically through SURI with the help of a registered Specialist. If your matter is a refund that has not arrived or a deficiency, those have their own guides; if it is an older person who needs the agency to serve them with priority, that is the expedited administrative processes guide.

• Paying the preparer for this service: the participating specialist may not charge you.
• Going to any preparer: they must be registered in Treasury’s Specialists Registry.
• Believing you must register in SURI alone: the specialist may assist you with registration.
• Thinking you must prove your eligibility: the law puts that check on the specialist’s side.
• Treating the 2020 statement-of-motives credit figures as current.
• Going to a Treasury employee for this service: the law bars them from participating.

These are the government pages this guide is based on.

• Departamento de Hacienda de Puerto Rico

  Hacienda

  bvirtualogp.pr.gov

• Treasury Department

  Hacienda

  hacienda.pr.gov