P.R. Laws tit. 4, § 2021
Barring the exceptions established by law, it shall be the duty of every notary to attach and cancel on each original deed executed and on the certified copies issued thereby the corresponding Internal Revenue stamps, Legal Aid Society stamps, and a stamp to be adopted and issued by the Bar Association of Puerto Rico at a cost of one dollar ($1), whose proceeds shall be covered in equal shares into the Puerto Rican Notary Institute and the Puerto Rico Notary Association. The Secretary of the Treasury may adopt and issue notarial tax stamps electronically, on his/her own or through Internal Revenue agents, that shall serve the same purpose and be used in the same manner.
The notary may pay the fees corresponding to the internal revenue stamps, the seal of the Legal Aid Society and the notarial tax seal through electronic means in accordance with the procedure to such effects to be approved by the Secretary of the Treasury, who may establish alternative mechanisms for the obligation of affixing and canceling seals in the instrument, all in coordination with the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court or the person upon whom he/she delegates.
The deed or certified copies of it shall be voidable or ineffective if the corresponding stamps are not attached to it or if any method established by the Secretary of the Treasury in substitution of the affixing of the seals required by law is not observed. However, any of the parties to the document may deliver the amount of said fees to the corresponding officer without impairing the provisions of the fifth paragraph of § 2011 of this title.
The Puerto Rico Bar Association shall be bound to designate at least one third (1 / 3) of the total income derived from the notarial stamp to community services programs, such as: free legal aid to indigents and continuing legal education programs for attorneys and the notaries themselves. No later than the month of February, the Association shall be bound to file an annual report before the Supreme Court specifying the income for the previous year from that concept, its use and the remainder.
The notaries from Servicios Legales de Puerto Rico, Inc., the Legal Aid Clinics of the Law Schools of the Island and any other entity or nonprofit organization, certified by the Secretary of Justice, whose purposes and functions are similar to those of these corporations shall not be bound to attach and cancel the stamps mentioned in this section when they execute documents for indigent persons following the eligibility criteria established by these bodies, but this circumstance shall be included in the document.
History —July 2, 1987, No. 75, p. 242, § 10; July 30, 1999, No. 188, § 1; Dec. 13, 2007, No. 196, § 5; Oct. 13, 2009, No. 121, § 9.