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> They are motivated both by an urge to help lift Puerto Rico out of its quagmire, but also by a profound attachment to the island — its beaches and countryside

> They are motivated both by an urge to help lift Puerto Rico out of its quagmire, but also by a profound attachment to the island — its beaches and countryside, its friendliness, its intimacy and the tug of family. They're probably more motivated by the complete lack of federal income tax[0]. Funny that this wasn't mentioned once in the entire article. 0. https://www.forbes.com/sites/robertwood/2014/07/04/hate-taxes-move-to-tax-free-puerto-rico-stay-american-avoid-irs/#43f7f9cf6397 https://www.forbes.com/sites/robertwood/2014/07/04/hate-taxe...

huac 9y ago
"To qualify, an individual must not have been a resident of Puerto Rico within in the last 15 years." It seems that "returners" don't qualify for that. Maybe it's just the amazing Puerto Rican food (I'd eat every meal at La Casita Blanca if I could).
- true_religion 9y ago
  The Forbes articles is confusing. The article is in reference to (but doesn't mention) the "Individual Investors Act (Act 22)"[1], which exempts you from Puerto Rico's own income tax, and limits your IRS liabilities for capital gains tax on long term investments sold within the first ten years of your residency. Regardless of if you take advantage of the above, you are exempt from Federal taxes. This is just an incentive atop it. [1] http://businessinpuertorico.com/en/profit/individual-investors http://businessinpuertorico.com/en/profit/individual-investo...
- mtremsal 9y ago
  I ate at La Casita Blanca earlier this week and was blown away by pretty much anything I tried, as well as the friendliness of the owner and the beauty of the herb garden. First time in PR; the restaurant was a highlight in a week filled with great food, striking architecture, and lovely people. I can definitely see why people would move there outside of tax considerations.
microcolonel 9y ago
Yeah, I was about to say that it's probably largely because of the policy relief under Fortuño and to some extent his successors. Like how you would expect people to have returned to Detroit if they would make the occasional policy decision which doesn't involve spending more of other people's money. It's pretty interesting to see how this works out within the U.S. when it comes to personal income tax[0] [0]: http://www.howmoneywalks.com/irs-tax-migration/ http://www.howmoneywalks.com/irs-tax-migration/
javiramos 9y ago
Eric and Bryan, the two founders of Lunchera featured in the article, are good friends of mine from MIT. They definitely didn't return to the island for tax reasons. Puerto Ricans are passionate about their "isla" - hard to explain to people expecting rational reasons.
- StavrosK 9y ago
  Not to be inflammatory, but I wouldn't expect nationalism to be hard for Americans to relate to.
  - enraged_camel 9y ago
    He said its hard to explain it to people expecting rational reasons.
- jameslk 9y ago
  That's cool for Eric and Bryan, but I was more making a point about the subject of the article: millennials who are launching startups in Puerto Rico. The narrative that the article paints about this cohort moving to Puerto Rico just out of pure love of the island sounds starry-eyed and naive. Businesses make business decisions, and incredible tax breaks need to be factored into that rational. At the very least, the article could have examined this point and dismissed it if it's mostly untrue. But tax incentives (not including the one I mentioned) were barely discussed.
  - totalZero 9y ago
    Millennials doing startups usually don't have much income to speak of. That's the nature of young people, and that's also the nature of startups. This is probably why there was little mention of the tax incentive; it's largely irrelevant to people who are investing their few resources into a from-scratch business. If we're talking about business decisions, there are probably several reasons why you would NOT want to go to PR, which far outweigh the lighter tax burden. Eric has a love of entrepreneurship and a love for Puerto Rico, and doing a GrubHub-like startup in his hometown of Ponce just totally makes sense in that context. In that light, surprisingly, I think the narrative is far from starry-eyed and naive.

huac 9y ago

"To qualify, an individual must not have been a resident of Puerto Rico within in the last 15 years." It seems that "returners" don't qualify for that. Maybe it's just the amazing Puerto Rican food (I'd eat every meal at La Casita Blanca if I could).

true_religion 9y ago
The Forbes articles is confusing. The article is in reference to (but doesn't mention) the "Individual Investors Act (Act 22)"[1], which exempts you from Puerto Rico's own income tax, and limits your IRS liabilities for capital gains tax on long term investments sold within the first ten years of your residency. Regardless of if you take advantage of the above, you are exempt from Federal taxes. This is just an incentive atop it. [1] http://businessinpuertorico.com/en/profit/individual-investors http://businessinpuertorico.com/en/profit/individual-investo...
mtremsal 9y ago
I ate at La Casita Blanca earlier this week and was blown away by pretty much anything I tried, as well as the friendliness of the owner and the beauty of the herb garden. First time in PR; the restaurant was a highlight in a week filled with great food, striking architecture, and lovely people. I can definitely see why people would move there outside of tax considerations.

microcolonel 9y ago

Yeah, I was about to say that it's probably largely because of the policy relief under Fortuño and to some extent his successors. Like how you would expect people to have returned to Detroit if they would make the occasional policy decision which doesn't involve spending more of other people's money. It's pretty interesting to see how this works out within the U.S. when it comes to personal income tax[0] [0]: http://www.howmoneywalks.com/irs-tax-migration/ http://www.howmoneywalks.com/irs-tax-migration/

javiramos 9y ago

Eric and Bryan, the two founders of Lunchera featured in the article, are good friends of mine from MIT. They definitely didn't return to the island for tax reasons. Puerto Ricans are passionate about their "isla" - hard to explain to people expecting rational reasons.

StavrosK 9y ago
Not to be inflammatory, but I wouldn't expect nationalism to be hard for Americans to relate to.
- enraged_camel 9y ago
  He said its hard to explain it to people expecting rational reasons.
jameslk 9y ago
That's cool for Eric and Bryan, but I was more making a point about the subject of the article: millennials who are launching startups in Puerto Rico. The narrative that the article paints about this cohort moving to Puerto Rico just out of pure love of the island sounds starry-eyed and naive. Businesses make business decisions, and incredible tax breaks need to be factored into that rational. At the very least, the article could have examined this point and dismissed it if it's mostly untrue. But tax incentives (not including the one I mentioned) were barely discussed.
- totalZero 9y ago
  Millennials doing startups usually don't have much income to speak of. That's the nature of young people, and that's also the nature of startups. This is probably why there was little mention of the tax incentive; it's largely irrelevant to people who are investing their few resources into a from-scratch business. If we're talking about business decisions, there are probably several reasons why you would NOT want to go to PR, which far outweigh the lighter tax burden. Eric has a love of entrepreneurship and a love for Puerto Rico, and doing a GrubHub-like startup in his hometown of Ponce just totally makes sense in that context. In that light, surprisingly, I think the narrative is far from starry-eyed and naive.