The sales tax that lands on you: online purchases, books and back to school

The use side of the sales tax is the surprising one. It is not a tax on what you buy at the corner shop: it is the one triggered when an item enters Puerto Rico and nobody charged tax at the point of sale. Buying online from abroad is the typical case. Treasury separates merchants from non-merchants: if you are a non-merchant individual who has imported merchandise for use or consumption in Puerto Rico, you must submit an Import Declaration — Form SC 2970 — through SURI. Merchants have their own procedure, through the monthly return. On the exemption side, the Code distinguishes two things people mix up: the permanent exemption for books and notebooks, which runs all year, and the sales-tax-free period for school uniforms and supplies, which is two days in July and two in January.

For the Import Declaration: it applies to the non-merchant individual who has imported merchandise for use or consumption in Puerto Rico. If you are a merchant, the procedure is different. For the permanent exemption: Section 4030.20(a) of the Code defines a printed book as any unitary printed publication, non-periodical, published at once or at intervals, in one or several volumes or fascicles, of a scientific, cultural or artistic nature, excluding electronic publications, magazines and newspapers; and defines an electronic book — or digital book, cyberbook, e-book — as the electronic or digital version of a printed book. For the back-to-school period: Section 4030.20(c)(1) defines a school uniform as clothing specifically required by the educational institution to be worn by its students and which cannot have general or continuous use outside school to replace ordinary clothing, including items of clothing and footwear complementing the uniform as required by the institution. Section 4030.20(c)(2) defines the covered school supplies, which include school, art, music and instructional supplies bought at retail, and computer storage media such as disks, compact discs and flash drives.

• Being a non-merchant individual who brought merchandise into Puerto Rico for use or consumption, in order to file the Import Declaration.Verified against the official source
• Having access to SURI: the Import Declaration is submitted through SURI.Verified against the official source
• For the back-to-school exemption: that the uniform is the one specifically required by the educational institution and does not serve as ordinary clothing outside school.Verified against the official source

• Import Declaration, Form SC 2970, for the non-merchant individual.

1. 1

   Step 1: If you bought online and were not charged sales tax, you owe it

   Treasury explains it with that exact example: if an individual buys an item over the internet and is not charged sales tax at the time of purchase, when they receive the item they are obliged to pay that tax. That is the Use Tax: the amount a person must pay when bringing an item into Puerto Rico for use and consumption in Puerto Rico. It does not depend on the shop having charged you; it depends on the item having entered.

2. 2

   Step 2: File the Import Declaration through SURI

   If you are a non-merchant individual who has imported merchandise for use or consumption in Puerto Rico, you must submit an Import Declaration, Form SC 2970, through SURI. If you are a merchant, the procedure is different and goes through your monthly return: Treasury keeps a separate page for that case.

3. 3

   Step 3: Books do not pay sales tax. Ever, not just in August

   Under Section 4030.20(a) of the Code, all printed books and electronic books are exempt from sales tax all year round, and that exemption applies both to purchase and to rental. A printed book is any unitary printed publication, non-periodical, of a scientific, cultural or artistic nature — magazines and newspapers are excluded. An electronic book is the electronic or digital version of a printed book. If you were charged sales tax on a book, you were charged wrongly.

4. 4

   Step 4: And neither do notebooks, of any size

   Article 4030.20-1(b)(9) of Regulation 8049 of 21 July 2011, as amended, establishes that notebooks bought at retail, regardless of size, are also exempt from sales tax all year round. That is not part of the back-to-school period: it runs all twelve months.

5. 5

   Step 5: The back-to-school period is four days a year

   Section 4030.20(b) of the Code exempts school uniforms and supplies from sales tax for a period of two days in July and two days in January. The Secretary issues a Carta Circular each fiscal year with the exact dates. And the Code carries a fallback rule for years when none is issued: the July period would begin at 12:01 am on 12 July and end at midnight on 13 July, and the January one would begin at 12:01 am on 10 January and end at midnight on 11 January. The most recent Carta Circular this guide verified is CC RI 25-13, of 2 June 2025, for fiscal year 2025-2026: it set Friday 18 to Saturday 19 July 2025 and Friday 2 to Saturday 3 January 2026. Those dates have passed; check hacienda.pr.gov for the current fiscal year’s Carta Circular before counting on a particular weekend.

6. 6

   Step 6: What counts as a uniform, and what does not

   A school uniform is clothing specifically required by the educational institution for its students, which cannot have general or continuous use outside school to replace ordinary clothing, plus items of clothing and footwear complementing the uniform as the institution requires. The Code expressly excludes: belt buckles sold separately; costume masks sold separately; patches and emblems sold separately, unless part of a uniform; sewing equipment and supplies — needles, patterns, pins, scissors, sewing machines, tape measures, thimbles — and sewing materials such as buttons, fabric, lace, thread, yarn and zippers; accessories and incidental items such as briefcases, cosmetics, hair items, handbags, handkerchiefs, jewellery, non-prescription sunglasses, umbrellas, wallets, watches, wigs and hairpieces; protective equipment not suitable for general use, such as respirator masks, ear protectors, face shields, helmets, paint or dust respirators, safety gloves, safety goggles, safety and tool belts and welder’s gear; and sports and recreational equipment not suitable for general use, such as ballet and tap shoes, cleated footwear, baseball, bowling, boxing, hockey or golf gloves, knee pads, life vests, mouthguards, skates, shin guards, shoulder pads, ski boots, waders, wetsuits and fins.

7. 7

   Step 7: And which school supplies are covered

   School supplies are items commonly used by a student in a course of study, and the Code lists them: folders, school bag, calculator, adhesive tape, chalk, compass, crayons, erasers, binders — accordion, expanding, plastic and manila envelopes —, glue and adhesives including glue sticks, markers including highlighters, index cards and their boxes, lunchboxes, loose-leaf and ring-binder paper, copy paper, graph, tracing, manila, coloured, poster board and construction paper, pencil and supply boxes, sharpeners, pencils, pens, protractors, rulers and scissors. Art, music and instructional supplies include clay and glazes, acrylic, tempera and oil paints, brushes, drawing and sketch pads, watercolours, musical instruments, and reference maps and globes. Computer storage media are also covered: disks, compact discs and flash drives.

8. 8

   Step 8: If you buy on layaway or with a rain check

   A layaway sale of uniforms or school supplies qualifies for the exemption when the final payment under the plan is made and the item is delivered to the buyer during the exemption period, or when title to the item transfers to the buyer and delivery is made during that period. A sale made by transferring title after the period does not qualify.

The Import Declaration, Form SC 2970, is submitted through SURI, at suri.hacienda.pr.gov. The dates of the back-to-school sales-tax-free period are published each fiscal year in a Carta Circular de Rentas Internas, in the Publications section of hacienda.pr.gov.

• Believing that if the online shop did not charge sales tax, none is owed: the Use Tax triggers when the item enters Puerto Rico.
• Paying sales tax on a printed or electronic book, which is exempt all year, on purchase and on rental.
• Paying sales tax on a retail notebook, exempt all year regardless of size.
• Waiting for the back-to-school weekend to buy books, which were already exempt.
• Buying accessories, sports equipment or sewing supplies thinking they fall under the uniform exemption.
• Counting on last year’s dates: the Secretary sets them each fiscal year by Carta Circular.
• As a merchant, using the non-merchant individual’s Import Declaration.
• Closing a layaway after the period and expecting the exemption to apply.

These are the government pages this guide is based on.

• Departamento de Hacienda de Puerto Rico

  Hacienda

  hacienda.pr.gov

• Import Declaration for non-merchants

  hacienda

  hacienda.pr.gov

• Back-to-school sales-tax-free period

  hacienda

  hacienda.pr.gov

• Carta Circular de Rentas Internas Núm. 25-13

  hacienda

  hacienda.pr.gov