The two-per-cent sales tax in Puerto Rico

Abstract

The two-per-cent Sales Tax now in force in Puerto Rico has been the subject ot considerable discussion since its adoption in 1925. The spectacular character ot the tax at the time ot its proposal was due primarily to the fact that it was called a sales tax instead ot an amendment to the excise tax then in force. In view of the previous discussion and the facts revealed through the survey, the tax should be repealed as a matter of democratic and socio-economic policy because (1) the tax as passed as an emergency measure and that emergency has passed; (2) because the tax is regressive; (3) because the tax falls largely on the merchants and not on the consumers as expected by the legislature; (4) because the yield of the tax does not represent a large part of the average annual income from revenue sources, and (5) because other sales taxes provide more than 1/3 of the revenue without the marked opposition of business.