Process Overview

Overview

The tax exemption application process requires researcher actions (colored blue in the flowchart) for its initial and final steps.

Note: For applications covering calendar year 2020, DDEC is requiring that all cases provide "New Case" documentation. All cases for this calendar year will be treated as new cases.

1. Researcher Pre-Qualification and File Upload

  1. The researcher must complete a pre-qualification form for each project they intend to claim an exception for.

  2. After pre-qualifying, the researcher must compile and submit the required project and payroll documents.

  3. This includes the applicable sections of the DDEC tax exemption application form.

2. Internal Application Review

  1. The researcher's deanship will verify and certify that the application is complete.

  2. Once this certification is received, the application will be assigned a case number. This number will be used to reference the application in all future steps.

  3. The committee review and the salary certification process will be carried out in parallel to reduce processing time.

  4. The chancellor's sworn statement will be prepared and appended to each applicable case.

3. Submission to the PRSTRT

  1. The Puerto Rico Science, Technology and Research Trust has been tasked with reviewing all applications and determining researcher and project eligibility.

  2. The UPRM R&D Center will compile the application documents and submit them to the Trust, copying the researcher.

  3. Once the Trust has completed its review, it will provide a certification to eligible researchers.

4. Researcher Submission to DDEC

  1. Once the researcher has received the Trust's certification, they must complete the researcher's sworn statement required by DDEC.

  2. The researcher should edit the DDEC Tax Exemption Application Form to provide their full social security number, as required by DDEC.

  3. The researcher must create an account in DDEC's online portal.

  4. The researcher can then submit their application for all projects and the total amount requested for the tax exemption, combining the individual project files to be able to upload them to DDEC's platform. For more information, see DDEC's instructions.

  5. Once DDEC issues a decree in the researcher's name, the researcher should request that the UPRM Finance Office modify their W2 to include the tax-exempt amount.