P.R. Laws tit. 11, § 28
It shall be the duty of every employer to file with the Administrator, not later than July 20 of each year, a statement showing the number of workers employed by said employer, the type of occupation or trade of said workers, and the total amount of wages paid to said workers for said trades during the preceding fiscal year; Provided, That at the request of the employer and for just cause, the Administrator may extend said term for a period of not more than 15 days. The premiums prescribed in §§ 26 and 27 of this title shall be computed according to the total amount of wages declared in said statement; Provided, That every employer employing workers covered by this chapter for any term or any part of a semester shall file the aforesaid statement, showing the number of workers or employees employed, the type of occupation, and the estimated wages to be paid to said workers or employees, and on such sum the premiums to be paid by the employer shall be computed; and upon the termination of the work of said workers or employees, the employer shall file a statement like the one mentioned above, showing the total amount of wages paid, on which sum the corresponding liquidation shall be made; and if this payroll is greater than the previous one, the Administrator shall assess, levy, and collect, as provided in this chapter, additional premiums on the difference, in the same manner as provided above.
Should an employer fail to submit said statements on the dates specified above, he/she shall incur a misdemeanor punishable by a fine not to exceed five thousand dollars ($5,000) or by a term of imprisonment not to exceed six (6) months. In case of recidivism both penalties shall be imposed. The Court of First Instance, at the request of the Administrator of the State Insurance Fund Corporation, shall order the employer to submit the aforementioned statements within a peremptory term and if he/she fails to do so, disobedience of said order shall constitute contempt and shall be punished accordingly. Any employer who knowingly falsifies the information required in said statements shall be subject to the same penalties prescribed for failing to submit said statements.
Any employer who has been covered by the State Insurance Fund up to the end of the preceding fiscal year and is covered as of July 1 of the current year, shall also be covered from July 1 to July 20, the term granted by this chapter to file the payroll or statement; Provided, That every employer who has not filed the statement to which this section refers within the term fixed herein shall be deemed to be an uninsured employer.
The Administrator and those employees having direct and specific intervention in the assessment, collection, and investigation of premiums are expressly empowered to administer the oath required by this chapter and shall exercise all the powers and rights conferred on the Internal Revenue Agents of the Department of the Treasury.
Any employer who considers he/she is not bound to comply with the requirements of this section shall state such a fact to the Administrator of the State Insurance Fund.
The insurance provided by the Commonwealth to all employers shall be in force immediately after their payroll or statement has been filed with the Office of the Administrator of the State Insurance Fund Corporation, together with the amount of the premium corresponding to the percentage of the wages declared in said statement, according to the rates fixed by the Administrator; Provided, That any accident that occurs before the verification of the payment of said premium, shall be deemed as a case of an uninsured employer, unless the employer verifies the payment within the term fixed by the Administrator of the State Insurance Fund Corporation, in which case the insurance shall become effective from the date on which the employer filed the payroll or statement in the office of the Administrator.
Upon receipt of the payment from an employer, the Administrator of the State Insurance Fund Corporation shall remit the receipt for such payment to said employer, which shall be prima facie evidence of said payment of the premiums and of said employer’s compliance with the provisions of this chapter. Until such payment is made, the employer shall not be entitled to the immunities provided by this chapter with regard to such injuries, diseases, or deaths that may be suffered by the workers or employees of said employer during the period covered by the payment of such premiums.
Every statement of facts consigned in the statements required by this section, and every statement made by virtue of the provisions of this section for the purpose of having any employer relieved from fulfilling any requirements thereof, shall be deemed as made under oath. In the event that any employer remits the payroll statement and/or the payment of the premiums assessed to the Administrator by certified mail, it shall be construed for all legal purposes that said payroll statement and/or payment of premiums assessed was filed or received at the Office of the Administrator, on the date postmarked by the United States Postal Service, on the envelope sent by certified mail by the employer in which said payroll statement and/or payment of the premiums assessed has been sent. Should the date postmarked by the Postal Service not be legible, then the effective date shall be the date on which the payroll and/or payment is received at the offices of the State Insurance Fund Corporation.
History —Apr. 18, 1935, No. 45, p. 250, § 27; Apr. 22, 1942, No. 43, p. 454, § 1; Apr. 28, 1949, No. 134, p. 344, § 1; June 9, 1956, No. 36, p. 106, § 1; June 26, 1959, No. 88, p. 246, § 1; renumbered as § 25 on July 1, 1996, No. 63, § 3; Aug. 6, 1999, No. 214, § 2; Sept. 16, 2004, No. 343, § 7.