In short
Chapter 4.6 of Joint Regulation No. 9473 splits the gasoline business into two licences according to whom the fuel is sold. Any person who sells gasoline to a dealer — regardless of whether they keep stocks of goods at the places where they deal or in relation to such sale — must obtain a Wholesale Gasoline Dealer Licence; and a refinery selling gasoline wholesale, at and from its own plant, is a dealer for that rule’s purposes. Any dealer selling gasoline exclusively for individual use and consumption, without an intermediary, must obtain a Retail Gasoline Dealer Licence, and that licence shall be placed in a visible place of the establishment. Both are applied for by completing the corresponding application and meeting the requirements of Rule 4.1.4 of the same Tomo, and both are renewed the same way. The wholesale licence adds a requirement of its own: evidence of having filed before the Department of the Treasury the bond required in favour of the Government of Puerto Rico. The chapter closes with enforcement, and there the name that rules is the Treasury: obtaining the licence within a Single Permit does not exempt compliance with the Internal Revenue Code for a New Puerto Rico, and the Treasury may enforce, inspect periodically, fine and order the halt or closure of the operation. The Secretary may examine at any time the business’s books, files, reports and other documents.
What is it?
It is Chapter 4.6 of Tomo IV of Joint Regulation No. 9473, the business licences volume. It governs neither where a gas station may be sited nor how it must be built — that is Chapter 8.8, which we cover separately — but the licence that allows dealing in the fuel: one for whoever sells to another dealer and another for whoever sells to the end consumer. And it adds the Treasury Department’s enforcement regime over those licences.
Who can do it?
The Wholesale Gasoline Dealer Licence is needed by any person who sells gasoline to a dealer, regardless of whether they keep stocks of goods at the places where they deal or in relation to such sale; a refinery selling gasoline wholesale, at and from its own plant, is a dealer for those purposes. The Retail Gasoline Dealer Licence is needed by any dealer selling gasoline exclusively for individual use and consumption, without an intermediary.
Requirements
- Obtaining the Wholesale Gasoline Dealer Licence where gasoline is sold to a dealer, regardless of whether stocks of goods are kept at the places where dealing occurs or in relation to such sale.Verified against the official source
- Obtaining the Retail Gasoline Dealer Licence where gasoline is sold exclusively for individual use and consumption, without an intermediary.Verified against the official source
- Completing the corresponding application and meeting the requirements established in Rule 4.1.4 of Tomo IV, for both the wholesale and the retail licence.Verified against the official source
- For the wholesale licence: evidence of having filed before the Department of the Treasury the bond required in favour of the Government of Puerto Rico.Verified against the official source
- Placing every Retail Gasoline Dealer’s licence in a visible place of the establishment.Verified against the official source
- Meeting the requirements of this Section and of Rule 4.1.4 for each licence’s renewal.Verified against the official source
- Complying with the Internal Revenue Code for a New Puerto Rico, as amended, the regulations adopted thereunder and any other applicable Treasury Department regulation or law: obtaining the licence within a Single Permit does not exempt from that.Verified against the official source
Documents you need
Cost
Step by step
Step 1: Which of the two licences applies
The dividing line is whom the fuel is sold to. If gasoline is sold to a dealer, the licence is the wholesale one, and the Regulation clarifies this applies regardless of whether stocks of goods are kept at the places where dealing occurs or in relation to such sale. If it is sold exclusively for individual use and consumption, without an intermediary, the licence is the retail one. A refinery selling gasoline wholesale, at and from its own plant, is a dealer for that rule’s purposes.
Step 2: What each application asks
Both licences are applied for the same way: interested natural or juridical persons must complete the corresponding application and meet the requirements established in Rule 4.1.4 of Tomo IV, which is the general business licence requirements rule and which we cover in its own guide. For each licence’s renewal those same requirements are met.
Step 3: The wholesaler’s bond
The wholesale licence has a requirement the retail one lacks: evidence of having filed before the Department of the Treasury the bond required in favour of the Government of Puerto Rico. A note on the source: the chapter demands the evidence but publishes no amount for that bond and names no other rule setting it. We invent no figure; it must be confirmed with the Treasury before filing.
Step 4: The retail licence goes on display
The retail rule carries a physical obligation that gets overlooked: every Retail Gasoline Dealer’s licence shall be placed in a visible place of the establishment. It is not a filing-cabinet paper but a document that must hang where the public can see it.
Step 5: The Single Permit does not cover the Treasury
Rule 4.6.3 says it plainly: obtaining one of the licences listed in this Tomo within a Single Permit does not exempt compliance with any requirement in the Regulation, the Internal Revenue Code for a New Puerto Rico as amended, the regulations adopted thereunder, and any other applicable Treasury regulation or law. That is, holding a current Single Permit is no shield against a tax breach.
Step 6: What the Treasury may do
The Department of the Treasury has the power to enforce, conduct periodic inspections, fine and order the halt or closure of the operation, per the Internal Revenue Code and the regulations adopted thereunder. The Treasury is further responsible for carrying out the enforcement inspections for compliance with that Code and with any other legal or regulatory provision on excise taxes, imposts and any other tax aspect. And the Secretary may examine at any time the books, files, reports and other documents concerning the commercial activity or the article subject to the licences.
Where to do it
Tomo IV licences are applied for through the business licence route, within the Single Permit, before OGPe or the autonomous municipality with the corresponding hierarchy. The wholesale licence’s bond is filed before the Department of the Treasury, and it is the Treasury that enforces, inspects, fines and may order the halt or closure of the operation.
How long it takes
What to do if something goes wrong
The commonest confusion is believing the gasoline licence is what allows opening the station. It is not: where a gas station may be sited and with what parameters it is built is in another chapter of the Regulation, and this licence is what allows dealing in the fuel. Then it must be decided which of the two applies, and the question is not the size of the business but whom it sells to: to a dealer, wholesale; to the individual consumer without an intermediary, retail. Whoever sells wholesale must arrive with evidence of the bond filed before the Treasury — whose amount the chapter does not publish, so it must be asked. Whoever sells retail must remember something as simple as hanging the licence where it can be seen. And it helps to be clear where the real risk lives: enforcement of this business belongs to the Treasury, not the permits office, and it runs as far as fining and ordering the halt or closure, with the Secretary empowered to examine books and files at any time. Holding a current Single Permit exempts from none of that.
Common mistakes
- Believing the gasoline licence authorizes siting or building the station, when another chapter of the Regulation governs that.
- Applying for the retail licence where gasoline is sold to another dealer, a case calling for the wholesale licence.
- Assuming a refinery selling wholesale from its own plant is not a dealer for these purposes.
- Filing the wholesale licence without evidence of the bond filed before the Department of the Treasury.
- Keeping the retail licence in the office instead of placing it in a visible place of the establishment.
- Treating renewal as a different process, when it meets the requirements of the same section and of Rule 4.1.4.
- Believing the Single Permit covers the obligations of the Internal Revenue Code for a New Puerto Rico.
- Not keeping books, files and reports in order, when the Secretary of the Treasury may examine them at any time.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between the wholesale and the retail gasoline licence?
Whom it is sold to. The wholesale one is needed by any person who sells gasoline to a dealer; the retail one, by any dealer selling gasoline exclusively for individual use and consumption, without an intermediary.
How much is the bond for the wholesale licence?
Chapter 4.6 publishes no amount. It requires evidence of having filed before the Department of the Treasury the bond required in favour of the Government of Puerto Rico, but does not say how much it is nor point to another rule setting it; it must be confirmed with the Treasury.
Where must the licence be at a gas station?
Every Retail Gasoline Dealer’s licence shall be placed in a visible place of the establishment.
May the Treasury close the operation?
Yes. The Department of the Treasury has the power to enforce, conduct periodic inspections, fine and order the halt or closure of the operation, per the Internal Revenue Code for a New Puerto Rico and the regulations adopted thereunder.
Official sources
These are the government pages this guide is based on.
- Departamento de Hacienda de Puerto Rico
Hacienda
docs.pr.gov
- Department of the Treasury
hacienda
hacienda.pr.gov
- OGPe Single Business Portal
ogpe
www.permisos.pr.gov
Last verified
September 6, 2026
MiPRFácil is an independent informational website and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or operated by the Government of Puerto Rico or any government agency.
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