Puerto Rico Excise Tax on Vehicles: Rates, Exemptions, and SURI

The Puerto Rico excise tax on vehicles, known locally as the arbitrio, is a one-time tax owed on every car brought into the territory, calculated on the vehicle’s original manufacturer value rather than what you actually paid for it. The rate is progressive, so the bill grows faster than the value: a modest used car may owe a few hundred dollars, while a luxury import can run into five figures. You pay it through Hacienda’s online SURI portal before the port will release the vehicle.¹

How the Taxable Value Is Set

The Department of the Treasury (Hacienda) ignores your purchase price. It starts from the Suggested Retail Price at the time the vehicle was originally manufactured. For new cars, that figure comes from the manufacturer. For used vehicles, Hacienda pulls the value from an Official Guide, commonly called the Black Book, which lists standardized values by make, model, trim, and year.

Two consequences follow. A bargain on a used luxury sedan doesn’t lower your tax; the Black Book value does the work. And two otherwise identical vehicles of different model years produce different bills, because age brings depreciation from the original SRP.

The Rate Brackets

The excise tax runs on a tiered structure. As the taxable value rises, each successive bracket carries a higher rate.¹ In general terms:

Vehicles valued under roughly $5,000 sit in the lowest bracket, taxed in the single digits as a percentage of value.
Mid-range vehicles move through brackets in the low-to-mid teens.
Vehicles valued above $30,000 fall into the top bracket, where rates can exceed 17%.

The exact thresholds and rates come from the Internal Revenue Code, and SURI applies them automatically once you enter the vehicle information. You don’t do the bracket math yourself, but the progressive design explains why moving from a mid-trim to a top-trim of the same model can jump the bill sharply.

The tax is paid once, when the vehicle enters Puerto Rico.² It does not come back at annual registration or on a later local sale.

Who Pays Less or Nothing

Returning Residents

The Internal Revenue Code exempts bona fide residents who lived off the island for a qualifying period and are returning to re-establish a primary home. One personal-use vehicle can be brought in with your household goods, tax-free, if it was registered in your name and used personally before the move. Cars purchased for the relocation itself, or intended for resale, don’t qualify.

Hybrid and Electric Vehicles

A separate provision creates excise tax refunds for vehicles running on alternative or combined energy sources. For plug-in hybrids and conventional hybrids, if the excise tax owed is $2,000 or less, the owner receives a full refund; if the tax exceeds $2,000, the refund equals 25% of the tax paid, with a $2,000 floor.³

Bona fide residents of Culebra and Vieques get a broader break: a complete exemption on one alternative-fuel vehicle per year for personal use, provided the previous vehicle is disposed of in an environmentally friendly manner.³

The original legislation carried a June 30, 2016 sunset with a directive for the Legislative Assembly to evaluate whether to extend it. The statute remains in the current code, but confirm with Hacienda that the refund is being processed before counting on it in your budget.

What You Need Before You Start

Have these on hand before opening SURI:

The 17-character Vehicle Identification Number, which drives the valuation lookup. Double-check it against your title.
The title or bill of sale, showing ownership and purchase history.
The bill of lading from your carrier, confirming the vehicle’s entry date into Puerto Rico.

Paying Through SURI

Hacienda handles vehicle excise tax through SURI, its online tax portal. You enter the VIN and vehicle details, and the system cross-references manufacturer data and the Black Book to set the taxable value. You’ll search by manufacturer and vehicle type, then pick the exact model and trim for the manufacturing year. Getting the trim right matters, because sub-models of the same car can carry meaningfully different SRPs.

SURI then generates a Voucher of Internal Revenue with the amount owed. You pay directly in the portal by credit card or ACH transfer. On a successful payment, the system issues two documents: a Tax Payment Certificate (Certificación de Pago de Arbitrios) and a Release of Goods authorization (Autorización de Levante de Mercancía), commonly called the Levante. Confirmation is typically immediate.

Releasing the Vehicle at the Port

The Levante is what unlocks the car. Port personnel will not release it without one. On arrival at the port facility, staff match your payment documentation to the vehicle, confirm no other holds are in place, and send you to the yard for pickup.

Timing matters. Carriers and port operators allow only a limited window before daily storage fees begin, and Hacienda can add penalties and surcharges for late excise tax payment. The safest approach is to complete the SURI payment before the ship arrives, or immediately after, so you can retrieve the car within the first few days.

Registration Is a Separate Step

Paying the excise tax clears the vehicle with Hacienda, but it does not put you on the road. Before driving legally, you still need to register the vehicle with the Department of Transportation and Public Works (DTOP), pass an emissions test at an authorized station, pay separate registration fees at a Hacienda office, and have the vehicle physically inspected so DTOP can confirm the VIN and check that it isn’t reported stolen. Only then does DTOP issue the registration and the marbete, the windshield sticker that serves as proof of current registration and must be renewed annually. Proof of Puerto Rico residency, through a local driver’s license, property deed, or rental agreement, is required for registration. None of that is part of the excise tax itself, but budget the time: expect long waits at both DTOP and Hacienda, and bring every document on the first visit.