Moving to Puerto Rico for Act 60: The Complete Relocation Checklist

File the application, move, then re-point your life at Puerto Rico. Each item below is either a decree condition or a fact the IRS weighs in the closer connection test.

Watch — the four phases in 3 minutes

Phase 1 — Before the move

• ☐Eligibility against the lookback and requirements.
• ☐DDEC application (step-by-step) — the filing date sets the regime under the 2026 rules.
• ☐Portfolio snapshot — holdings and values at the planned residency start; the pre-/post-move gain split depends on it (why).
• ☐Move date — residency tests are annual, and a mid-year move interacts with the year-of-move rules (183-day rule).
• ☐Housing — rental first is common; the 2-year purchase clock starts at decree grant.

Phase 2 — First 30 days on the island

• ☐Lease or purchase — the PR home is primary closer-connection evidence.
• ☐Puerto Rico driver's license — a retained stateside license is a common audit finding.
• ☐Voter registration in Puerto Rico, with stateside removal.
• ☐Puerto Rico bank accounts carrying daily financial activity.
• ☐Utilities in your name — recurring, dated, address-bearing evidence.
• ☐Day tracking from arrival — the 183-day count is annual and resists reconstruction.

Phase 3 — First year

• ☐Vehicle: import or buy locally; register in PR.
• ☐Healthcare: PR physicians and dentists — medical relationships are weighed evidence.
• ☐Community ties: gym, clubs, church, professional organizations (social/civic evidence).
• ☐Mailing address: everything to PR; a mainland "primary" address contradicts the position.
• ☐Form 8898 with the federal return for the year residency begins — required above $75,000 worldwide gross income, $1,000 penalty for failure.
• ☐PR filing obligations (Hacienda).

Phase 4 — Decree milestones (clocks that start at grant)

• ☐Decree granted → 2-year home-purchase clock starts (requirements); post-2026 decrees add property-registry recording.
• ☐First $10,000 donation ($5,000/$5,000 split) by December 31.
• ☐First annual report + $5,000 fee — late filings draw automatic $1,000 fines (annual requirements).

The habit

Every item above generates paper: leases, receipts, registrations, statements. Holders who keep them organized from day one answer auditsin an afternoon; those who don't spend months reconstructing 2-year-old evidence.