P.R. Laws tit. 13, § 32450
(a) The taxes imposed in this part shall not apply to:
(1) Distilled spirits and alcoholic beverages, except wine and beer, produced in Puerto Rico, that have been or were shipped or exported and have been or were returned to the shipper, rectifier, or manufacturer who bottled them in Puerto Rico, for the correction of deficiencies in said spirits or alcoholic beverages or defects in their containers. The Secretary may give credit for the taxes paid on these distilled spirits and alcoholic beverages, which shall be applied to identical quantities of said products as provided by said official. The Secretary may authorize the destruction, under his/her supervision, of those alcoholic beverages produced in Puerto Rico with distilled spirits that have been or were shipped or exported and were returned to the shipper or rectifier who bottled them in Puerto Rico, which can be proved to his/her satisfaction that cannot be reconditioned, and shall give credit to the producer thereof for those taxes paid on said alcoholic beverages. He/she may likewise give credit for those taxes on alcoholic beverages, except wines and beer, manufactured or sold in Puerto Rico that are returned to the rectifier or bottler who bottled them to correct any deficiencies of said alcoholic beverages or defects in the containers, or when their destruction is authorized because they cannot be reconditioned, as provided by said official by regulations.
(2) Distilled spirits that are not derived from sugar cane, with forty percent (40%) or more alcohol content per volume, (eighty (80) or more degrees proof), and wine imported or introduced into Puerto Rico to be used in Puerto Rico as ingredients in the manufacturing of alcoholic beverages in a proportion that does not exceed two and a half percent (21/2%) per volume in the manufacture of rum, and five percent (5%) per volume in the manufacture of liquors other than rum, provided that is it shown to the satisfaction of the Secretary that said distilled spirits or wines are an integral part of said alcoholic beverages when they are appraised for the payment of the taxes established by this part or to dispose of them for tax exemption purposes.
(b) A credit, without interest, shall be granted for taxes paid on all alcoholic beverages that are withdrawn from the market because they are damaged and unfit for human consumption, and are therefore returned to the industrial plants or establishment of the dealer-distributor who imported or introduced them to Puerto Rico, to be destroyed under the immediate supervision of representatives of the Secretary, pursuant to the regulations approved by said official to such ends.
History —Jan. 31, 2011, No. 1, § 5023.10, retroactive to Jan. 1, 2011.