Act 60 Puerto Rico: Residency and Housing Rules

We are a rental company, not tax advisors. KTJ Krug LLC provides furnished accommodation in Condado. We do not determine Act 60 eligibility, calculate tax savings, prepare decree applications, interpret a reader's facts or provide tax, legal, financial or immigration advice. Every reader must confirm their own position with qualified U.S. and Puerto Rico tax professionals.

This page explains, from primary sources, why housing matters to an Act 60 relocation. A Puerto Rico home can be relevant to presence, tax home and closer connection, but does not establish bona fide residence or an incentive.

The accommodation route is the Act 60 housing enquiry page. Read the information below with the current statute, IRS guidance, the decree and professional advice.

Evidence note: CONFIRMED marks a direct summary of the cited government source. UNVERIFIED is used if a proposition cannot be confirmed. No reader-specific conclusion is offered.

What is Act 60 in Puerto Rico?

CONFIRMED Puerto Rico's official Incentives Code, Act 60-2019, revised 18 May 2026, consolidates multiple incentive programs. Its individual-investor chapter permits a qualifying Resident Individual Investor to apply to the Secretary of the Department of Economic Development and Commerce for the economic benefits specified in that chapter.

CONFIRMED DDEC states that its Puerto Rico Business Incentives Office processes, evaluates and oversees incentive applications, granted decrees and amendments under Act 60-2019, as amended. DDEC also maintains the official incentives portal. Moving to Puerto Rico does not automatically create a decree, and a decree does not replace the federal bona fide residence analysis.

The current Code contains provisions for specified interest, dividend and capital-gain income. The treatment is not a blanket promise that all income becomes tax-free. The statutory result can depend on the type and source of income, when appreciation arose, when income is recognized, residency, eligibility, the decree and later amendments. KTJ Krug does not summarize those provisions into a rate or savings claim.

Anyone researching the tax benefits of moving to Puerto Rico should begin with a qualified advisor and the current sources, not a rental listing or a promotional calculator.

The IRS bona fide residence framework

CONFIRMED IRS Publication 570 for tax year 2025 explains that bona fide residence in a U.S. territory generally requires the individual to satisfy a presence test, have no tax home outside the territory and have no closer connection to the United States or a foreign country than to the territory. The IRS also describes special rules and exceptions, including rules relevant to a year in which residence begins or ends.

The tests are related but separate. A Puerto Rico address is relevant evidence. It is not a substitute for any test.

Presence test

CONFIRMED IRS Publication 570 for tax year 2025 provides several alternative routes for satisfying the presence test. The widely quoted 183-day route is one of them, not the entire rule. The publication also explains how days are determined and identifies exceptions and alternatives.

A lease cannot establish where a person physically spent each day. A person can rent in Puerto Rico and remain elsewhere. Conversely, day count alone does not resolve tax home or closer connection. Readers should have advisors apply the current rules to their travel pattern and records.

Tax-home test

CONFIRMED IRS Publication 570 for tax year 2025 states that a bona fide resident generally must not have a tax home outside Puerto Rico during the relevant period. The publication ties tax home to the regular or principal place of business, employment or post of duty and provides further rules where that concept does not resolve the question.

Housing and tax home are not synonyms. A Puerto Rico apartment may be the place a person lives while work, business and travel facts point elsewhere. KTJ Krug cannot decide that issue.

Closer-connection test

CONFIRMED IRS Publication 570 for tax year 2025 treats closer connection as a facts-and-circumstances inquiry. The listed considerations include the location of a permanent home, family, personal belongings, social and professional relationships, business activities, driver's license, voter registration, charitable affiliations and the address used on documents and returns.

Housing matters because the location and use of a permanent home are part of that factual picture. It is still only part of the picture. A mailing address, short leisure stay or signed lease does not override contradictory facts.

What housing can prove, and what it cannot

A real long-stay address can create ordinary records: an occupancy agreement, correspondence, utilities where applicable, local deliveries and a place from which daily life occurs. Those facts may be relevant to residence analysis. Their legal effect depends on the full record.

A rental operator can document accommodation. We cannot certify tax residence.

Our moving to Puerto Rico checklist covers the address-first sequence for utilities, banking, licensing, connectivity and schools. The guide to living in Puerto Rico covers grid reliability, storms, driving, language and logistics. The San Juan cost-of-living guide helps readers budget without treating a crowdsourced average as a quote.

The Resident Individual Investor property rule

The housing issue does not end with a rental.

CONFIRMED Section 6020.10(c) of the official Incentives Code revised 18 May 2026 requires a Resident Individual Investor to submit proof of acquiring Puerto Rico real property by purchase within two years after obtaining the decree. The statutory text states that the property must serve as the principal residence, be owned solely or jointly with a spouse, and be acquired from an unrelated seller. It also requires an annual attestation that the relevant ownership is maintained during the decree period.

That is a purchase rule in the current Code. A rental does not satisfy it. A furnished rental may serve as transitional housing while a relocating household learns neighborhoods and evaluates a purchase, but the tenant and advisors must manage the statutory timing and every other decree requirement.

Legislation, regulations, administrative guidance and individual decrees can change or differ. The official text cited here states a revision date of 18 May 2026. Readers must ask qualified advisors to confirm the rule in force for their application, decree and reporting period.

A housing timeline without a tax conclusion

The following is not a compliance plan. It shows where housing questions arise so a reader knows what to discuss with advisors.

KTJ Krug can answer accommodation questions about its own apartments. It cannot answer the right-hand column as a tax or legal matter.

For accommodation, readers can review furnished apartment properties in Condado, long-term rental information for San Juan and the Act 60 housing enquiry route. The last page is linked more than once because it is the correct commercial destination, not because it proves or facilitates tax qualification.

Records and substance

CONFIRMED The IRS framework in Publication 570 looks beyond one address and one day count. The DDEC framework in the current Incentives Code includes application and ongoing requirements. A credible residence analysis therefore concerns substance, not a collection of isolated documents.

A rental agreement should describe the real occupancy arrangement. Utility records should reflect the actual account structure. Travel records should reflect actual travel. Government and financial records should not be changed merely to manufacture an appearance that conflicts with reality.

This is another reason KTJ Krug will not tell a prospective tenant that a particular stay “qualifies” them. No rental operator has the complete facts or the authority to make that determination.

The practical side of actually being here

Substance means physically living somewhere for a long stretch, and the day-to-day reality of that is a housing question rather than a tax one. CONFIRMED At 56 Krug each apartment has its own dedicated Anker backup battery in the unit, the building has a water cistern, and every apartment has 1 Gbps fiber. For someone spending a long uninterrupted stretch on the island and working through it, those three things are the difference between a stay that holds and one that sends you back to the mainland early. Two things we do not have and will not pretend otherwise: no on-site resident parking and no elevator. See our guide to living in Puerto Rico for the honest version of the trade-offs.

Questions to ask a qualified tax professional

The following questions define the boundary between housing and advice. They should be directed to the reader's professional team:

• Which IRS presence-test route, if any, applies to the planned travel pattern?
• How do the person's work and business facts affect tax home?
• Which facts are relevant to closer connection in this case?
• When can bona fide residence begin under the applicable move-year rules?
• Which decree category and current eligibility provisions apply?
• What purchase, contribution, filing and annual-reporting obligations apply to the decree?
• How should pre-move and post-move income or appreciation be analyzed?

KTJ Krug can provide accurate documents for a genuine stay. It does not shape documents to create a tax result and does not advise how any answer should be reached.

Frequently asked questions

What is Act 60 in Puerto Rico?

It is Puerto Rico's Incentives Code. The Code includes multiple programs, including provisions under which a qualifying Resident Individual Investor may apply for specified benefits. DDEC's Incentives Office processes and oversees decree matters.

What are the Puerto Rico Act 60 residency requirements?

For federal bona fide residence, IRS Publication 570 describes the presence, tax-home and closer-connection tests. The decree has separate Puerto Rico eligibility and compliance requirements. A qualified advisor must apply both systems to the reader's facts.

Is the commonly cited day count the only presence route?

No. IRS Publication 570 provides several alternative presence-test routes and detailed day-counting rules. A lease does not prove physical presence.

Does renting an apartment establish Puerto Rico tax residence?

No. A genuine rental can support a factual record of living in Puerto Rico, but it does not by itself establish presence, tax home, closer connection, decree eligibility or a tax benefit.

Must a Resident Individual Investor purchase a home?

The official Incentives Code revised on the date cited above contains a principal-residence purchase requirement for a Resident Individual Investor after the decree is obtained. Readers must confirm the current rule and its application with qualified advisors.

What tax benefits does Act 60 provide?

The current Code contains provisions for specified categories of interest, dividend and capital-gain income. Treatment is not universal and can depend on source, timing, appreciation period, residency, eligibility and decree terms. KTJ Krug does not calculate rates or savings.

Can KTJ Krug tell me whether I qualify?

No. We are a rental company, not tax advisors. We cannot determine eligibility, residence, tax treatment or compliance. Consult qualified U.S. and Puerto Rico tax professionals.

Where are decree applications handled?

DDEC states that its Business Incentives Office processes and evaluates incentive applications and maintains the official incentives portal. Use the current DDEC route and professional advice.

Request availability and a rate for your dates

KTJ Krug LLC operates 10 furnished apartments at 56 Calle F. Krug in Condado, San Juan, with 2-bedroom and 3-bedroom layouts from 754 to 1,411 sq ft, including penthouse units. Every apartment has a full kitchen with stainless appliances, air conditioning in every room, a private balcony, high-speed internet and a flat-screen TV. Laundry is available on site rather than in most units. The building is a four-floor walk-up with no elevator, which we say plainly because it matters to some households. Pets are welcome with no size or breed restrictions and no pet deposit. Self check-in uses a smart lock on the building door and is suitable for late or after-hours arrival.

To request availability and a rate for your dates, send your dates, number of guests, number of bedrooms, length of stay and company or organization.

Direct line: +1-787-437-8782

Stays are invoiced directly. Corporate and insurance placements are handled on account rather than by consumer card checkout. The minimum stay is confirmed on enquiry.

CONFIRMED We operate a 24/7 concierge line. It is a phone and email service, not a lobby desk, and it is how residents reach us for maintenance, service coordination and local questions for the whole length of the stay. If you are arriving from the mainland and do not yet know a plumber, a doctor or which supermarket delivers, that line is the point.

Sources and claim map