In Post 1 of this series, I explained that Act 38-2026 split Act 60's investor program into two tracks, and that the date you file decides which one you get. This post is about what "file" means in practice, because people get it wrong in both directions.

Some assume they need more than the rules ask: an approved decree, a house under contract, a moving date. Others assume they need less: a quick placeholder filing in the last week of December. The first group panics. The second group gets caught out.

The exact cutoff

DDEC's Office of Incentives will accept applications for the 0% rate until December 31, 2026. Its April 2026 bulletin is specific: an application counts if it is received no later than 11:59 p.m. that day, per the time stamp on the filing-fee payment in the Incentives Portal.

That has two practical consequences. The clock that matters is the portal's. And paying the fee is part of filing, so a payment problem or a slow portal on New Year's Eve lands on you. DDEC's guidance mentions no grace period for either.

What doesn't have to happen by December 31

Approval. DDEC states that applications filed before January 1, 2027 keep the benefits in effect when they were filed, regardless of when the decree is approved. Approval can come in 2027 or later.

Buying a home. The primary-residence commitment is a condition you meet after the decree is granted; the law gives you two years from obtaining the decree to buy. Nothing in DDEC's deadline guidance requires a purchase by December 31.

Moving. The 0% rate applies to income and gains after you become a bona fide Puerto Rico resident, so the benefit starts when your residency does. DDEC's deadline guidance doesn't require you to have relocated by December 31. Your counsel will tell you the timing your decree expects.

This is worth saying plainly because some published summaries get it wrong: you do not need to obtain or secure your decree by December 31. You need to file.

What does have to be ready

A filing is a real application, submitted through DDEC's Incentives Portal with the fee paid. Your Puerto Rico counsel will give you the current document list. DDEC's own guidance confirms three items worth starting now.

• Prior residency. If you file in 2026, you must not have been a Puerto Rico resident between January 17, 2006 and January 17, 2012. Check this first. If it fails, stop and talk to counsel before spending time on anything else.
• A criminal record report from your last place of residence. DDEC describes requiring one as its long-standing practice.
• A background check. DDEC runs or commissions a full check on every applicant. Convictions for financial crimes such as wire, bank, securities, tax or mail fraud, or a pattern of criminal behavior, are grounds to dismiss or deny an application.

A cautious working plan

This is a conservative timeline, not a DDEC requirement. It assumes you start this month.

1. By late October: decide whether you're seriously considering a move, engage a Puerto Rico tax attorney or CPA, and check the prior-residency rule.
2. Early November: request the criminal record report from your last place of residence (turnaround varies by jurisdiction) and gather what counsel asks for.
3. Late November: have the application drafted, and have your U.S. tax advisor review how the move fits your federal picture.
4. By mid-December: file. That leaves about two weeks for a payment or portal problem, a missing document, and holiday closures.

What filing does and doesn't commit you to

Filing in 2026 doesn't lock you out of the 4% track. DDEC lets an applicant whose decree is still pending file a sworn amendment request to take the 4% rate with a decree through 2055 instead. Post 3, on Tuesday, covers whether you would want to.

Filing doesn't make you a resident, either. Whether you are a bona fide resident for U.S. tax purposes is decided under separate IRS tests, the subject of Post 4.

And a decree is only as useful as your ability to live by it. A 2026 filing makes sense if you genuinely intend to relocate. If you go ahead, the residency, home and annual requirements all apply.

Where I fit: a paperwork deadline, not a buying deadline

From where I sit, the most useful thing about this deadline is what it doesn't require. You don't have to buy a house by December 31, so don't let the date rush you into one. The purchase comes after the decree, which means the property search can run on its own timeline, with full due diligence. If you file in 2026, the rules on how the residence may be held are the ones in effect before Act 38-2026, which still allow a purchase through an eligible Puerto Rico entity. Talk to counsel about which structure suits you.

What does help now is seeing communities and homes before you file, so you know Puerto Rico works for your household. A filing is easier to commit to when you can picture where you'll live.

Next in the series

Post 3, Tuesday, October 13: 0% through 2035 or 4% through 2055, and how to think about the choice.