The certificate from the Department of State (Departamento de Estado) is not permission to open the space. What you ask for depends on the activity and the municipality. Start with the Permit Management Office (Oficina de Gerencia de Permisos, OGPe)1, continue with the municipality for the municipal license tax (patente municipal), and with the Treasury Department (Departamento de Hacienda) for the merchant registry.
What’s different in Puerto Rico
- Three papers, three offices. Single Permit (Permiso Único) at the Permit Management Office. License tax at the municipality. Merchant registry at the Treasury Department. One does not replace the others.
- A new business in an existing space, without construction, asks for a Single Permit. If there is work, the permits page sends the construction case through another filing. This page does not cover it.
- The provisional license tax (patente provisional) covers the half-year in which you open. The half-years start on July 1 and January 23.
- There is no state license with a single price for every trade. The Permit Management Office sends you to the license list for your activity.
Do this
- Check whether the use of the space is allowed. Look it up with the cadastral number, on the Planning Board (Junta de Planificación) map1: gis.jp.pr.gov/mipr.
- If you are starting in an existing space and are not going to build, ask for the Single Permit. A new business in an existing space that needs no construction applies for a Single Permit. The Permit Management Office adds that a non-residential use requires a Single Permit and, depending on the business, special licenses. Go to the Single Business Portal (SBP)1 at permisos.pr.gov, create the user, set up the project profile and file the permit. The page does not print the price.* Pay it when the system shows it.
- Check the licenses for your activity on that same portal. The Permit Management Office puts it as a step, before filing. It does not publish a restaurant, alcohol or contractor fee here.* If your trade is regulated, the SBP list is where that license appears.
- Request the license tax at the municipality. It applies to every private natural or legal person, and any group of them, engaged for profit in a service, a sale, a financial business or an industry in a municipality, except as the Municipal Code (Código Municipal) provides otherwise. The volume declaration is filed on or before five business days after April 15, or after the date the Treasury Department sets for the income tax return. The provisional license tax exempts you from payment for the half-year in which you start operating. At the start of the next half-year you file the declaration and pay it, and you have up to fifteen days after that start. The half-years start on July 1 and January 2. When they apply, the provisional application carries the Single Permit from the Permit Management Office and the merchant registry certificate from the Treasury Department, and also the municipality’s itinerant business license or a tax exemption decree. Not filing the provisional application on time can bring a fine of $5003 and/or six months in jail, as applicable, unless there is reasonable cause that is not willful neglect.
- Keep the merchant registry at hand. The license tax form asks for it when it applies. That registry is in Get your tax IDs. It is not the license tax and it is not the Single Permit.
- Note each due date on its own line. The Single Permit, the license tax and a trade license do not have the same due date as the Department of State annual charges. Corporations no longer file the ordinary annual report since 2025, but they must pay their annual charge. See Stay compliant.
What you get back
A Single Permit, if the space requires it and the Permit Management Office grants it. A license tax from the municipality, provisional at the start and then on the volume you declare. The trade licenses, only the ones the list for your activity asks for. None of those papers is the entity’s certificate or the Treasury Department number.
Common questions
Do I need a single license to open in Puerto Rico?
If the use is not residential, the Permit Management Office says that a non-residential use requires a Single Permit and, depending on the business, special licenses. A new business in an existing space that needs no construction applies for a Single Permit. The page does not print a single price for that permit.* The total shows in the SBP when you file.
Is the municipal license tax the Single Permit?
No. The license tax is the municipality's, on business volume. The Single Permit is from the Permit Management Office (Oficina de Gerencia de Permisos, OGPe). The provisional license tax form asks for, when they apply, the Single Permit from the Permit Management Office and the merchant registry certificate from the Treasury Department.
When is the license tax declaration due?
The volume declaration is filed on or before five business days after April 15, or after the date the Treasury Department sets for the income tax return. Confirm the date with your municipality. The provisional license tax exempts you from payment for the half-year in which you start operating.
Is there a single license tax rate on the island?
The provisional license tax form says who is subject and when it is declared, but it does not print a rate per municipality.* The municipality calculates the license tax with your volume declaration.
What special licenses does my trade need?
The Permit Management Office says a non-residential use can require special licenses, and the page does not name a single agency or a single price for food, alcohol or construction.* Check the license list inside the SBP for your activity.