How Much Does Act 60 Cost? The Complete Breakdown
Plan for roughly $20,000–$30,000 in year one (excluding your home purchase) and about $15,000–$16,000 every year after for the life of the decree. The tax savings usually dwarf these numbers — but the costs are fixed, so they define who the program makes sense for. Here is every line item.
One-time costs (application through decree)
| Item | Cost | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| DDEC filing fee | ~$750 | Paid at portal filing |
| Acceptance fee | $5,000 | On decree grant |
| Professional preparation — attorney | $3,000–$10,000 | Full-service law firm |
| Professional preparation — self-service software | $1,500–$2,500 | Document preparation against published requirements (what the process involves) |
| Background checks, notarizations, document fees | A few hundred dollars | Varies |
Recurring annual costs
| Item | Cost | Deadline |
|---|---|---|
| Charitable donation | $10,000 — $5,000 to CECFL-list organizations + $5,000 to Hacienda-qualified nonprofits | December 31, every year |
| Annual government fee | $5,000 | With the annual cycle |
| Annual report filing fee | ~$300 | Annual report deadline |
| CPA verification letter | Professional fee (varies) | Now part of DDEC portal requirements |
| Compliance tooling / recordkeeping | $0–$1,200 | From spreadsheets to dedicated platforms |
Missing the annual filing now has its own price: automatic $1,000 fines began in 2026, escalating toward revocation — details in annual requirements.
The hidden big-ticket item: the home purchase
Within 2 years of the decree grant you must purchase residential property in Puerto Rico as your principal residence (requirements). It's an asset, not a fee — but it's a mandatory capital commitment that belongs in any honest cost model. Post-2026 decrees add a property-registry recording step (2026 changes).
Cost vs. benefit: the honest math
Annual fixed costs of ~$15,000+ are trivial against seven-figure exempt gains and meaningful against modest ones. Illustration, using the pre-2027 0% rate on post-move long-term gains (vs. ~23.8% federal):
| Annual covered investment income | Approx. federal tax avoided | Annual Act 60 costs | Net |
|---|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | ~$11,900 | ~$15,300 | Negative |
| $150,000 | ~$35,700 | ~$15,300 | +$20,400 |
| $1,000,000 | ~$238,000 | ~$15,300 | +$222,700 |
Under the post-2026 4% regimethe break-even shifts higher. What the decree does and doesn't cover: tax benefits.
Costs people forget
- Pre-move gain exposure: appreciation from before the move keeps U.S. tax exposure if realized within 10 years (tax benefits).
- Two-jurisdiction professional fees: PR returns (Hacienda) plus federal obligations often mean two sets of preparers.
- Evidence failure: the most expensive line item on this page is the one nobody budgets — a lost audit for lack of records.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Is the $10,000 donation tax-deductible?
- Treatment differs between PR and federal returns and depends on individual facts — a specific question for a licensed professional.
- Do costs ever go down?
- The donation and annual fee run for the decree's life. Application costs are one-time.
- What's the cheapest compliant path?
- Self-prepared application + disciplined self-tracking is possible; the failure mode isn't the filing, it's evidence gaps discovered years later.