Is Act 60 Worth It? An Honest Look at Who It Doesn't Fit

For many people, no. Practitioners who set up decrees have reported that roughly half of Act 60 relocators eventually leave — an anecdotal figure, not an official one, but the profiles behind it repeat. They sort into three groups: the math, the past, and the life.

How many Act 60 movers actually leave?

Nobody keeps an official count. The "about half" figure is practitioner-reported— attorneys and CPAs describing what they've watched over years of clients — and shouldn't be repeated as a government statistic. The nearest official signal points the same direction: 887 decrees voluntarily surrendered in 2025 alone (enforcement in detail). What makes the figure useful is that the people who leave tend to look alike — and the pattern is checkable against published rules before a single box gets packed.

Where is the income floor — when do fixed costs eat the benefit?

Keeping a decree costs about $15,000 a year — the donation, the annual report fee, the CPA letter (full cost breakdown). Those costs are fixed; the benefit scales with covered investment income. Under the pre-2027 0% rate, against ~23.8% federal tax otherwise (long-term capital gains plus NIIT):

At $50,000 of covered income, the arithmetic is negative before the first flight; around $150,000 it clears by about $20,700 a year. Year one runs higher — roughly $20,000–$30,000 with application costs, before the mandatory home purchase — and the post-2026 4% regime shifts every break-even up. Illustrative derivations, not projections: individual facts control. The program has an income floor, and the sales pitch tends to skip it.

What if the income is a W-2 salary?

A salary stays U.S.-taxed no matter where you live — the decree covers Puerto Rico–source investment income, and wages were never in the category. Remote work for a mainland employer carries residency risks of its own: Act 60 for W-2 and remote workers.

What about gains that predate the move?

Appreciation from before the move generally stays U.S.-source if realized within 10 years (Treas. Reg. §1.937-2), and Puerto Rico taxes those built-in gains at 10% inside that window (5% after). If the whole plan is selling something held for years, the decree doesn't cover the part that matters — the math works for people whose gains are mostly ahead of them (what the decree covers).

Who fails the residency tests before they start?

Bona fide residency is three federal tests — presence, tax home, and closer connection — met every year, per IRS Publication 570. The recurring failure profile is the mover who doesn't fully move: spouse and kids stateside, the old house kept, the dentist unchanged. Closer connection weighs exactly those facts — where the permanent home is, where family is, where the banking, license, and voter registration sit. A stateside spouse or minor children is a weighed factor every year for the life of the decree, and no amount of day-counting offsets it.

What is day-to-day life on the island actually like?

The third group leaves over the life, not the law. Reported conditions, attributed as residents describe them:

• The grid: residents report routine blackouts and grid instability.
• Cost of goods: shipping falls under the Jones Act, and residents report import markups of 20–40% on delivered goods, with groceries materially higher than the mainland.
• Healthcare: medical specialists can mean long waits — or a flight.

None of this is a reason not to come. It's a reason not to come for the tax rate alone. The people who stay tend to describe wanting the island first, with the decree as the bonus.

So who does Act 60 actually fit?

The profiles invert into a fit: meaningful portfolio income, comfortably past the break-even; gains mostly ahead, not behind; a household that is actually moving; and someone who'd take the island at 4%, not just 0% — the 4% era is scheduled, since under Act 38-2026 applications filed after December 31, 2026 receive 4%. For that profile the numbers here are homework, not a warning — starting with the requirements and the year-by-year costs.