Winds of fear
P.R. faces GOP tax bill ‘devastation,’ pols warn
STILL RECOVERING from Hurricane Maria, Puerto Rico could get walloped again by the GOP tax bill.
Gov. Cuomo and Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rossello warned Monday that the House and Senate tax bills would impose new tax burdens on Puerto Rico businesses and cripple the island’s fragile economy.
“The tax bill is devastating to Puerto Rico,” Cuomo said. “How do you expect Puerto Rico, that just sustained the worst storm in its history, to now get attacked economically in the tax bill and to recover?”
Of specific concern is a provision that would impose a new, 20% excise tax on goods manufactured by subsidiaries of U.S. corporations on foreign soil.
The proposed excise tax is aimed at getting the corporations to bring jobs back to the U.S., but because the tax code treats Puerto Rico as a foreign jurisdiction, its goods would also be subject to the excise tax.
“It means that 49% of our GDP is in grave danger,” Rossello said. “It means that 63% of our revenues from our companies might be lost, and it means that 30% of our overall revenue could be severely hampered.”
Cuomo and Rossello, during an appearance with members of New York’s House delegation, called on Congress to treat Puerto Rico fairly in the tax bill. They also called on Congress to approve a $94.4 billion aid package to help Puerto Rico recover from the storm.
“We’re not asking more, we’re not asking less than other states,” Rossello said. “We’re asking the same treatment that Texas would have gotten or that Florida would have gotten, or California.”
Cuomo and Rossello also announced plans to rebuild and modernize the island’s electric power grid so it will better withstand future storms and reduce dependence on fossil fuel imports.
The plan was drafted by the Puerto Rico Energy Resiliency Working Group, which was created by Cuomo after the storm.