Puerto Rico (U.S.)

Ease of Doing Business in

Puerto Rico (U.S.)

This page summarizes Doing Business 2013 data for Puerto Rico. The first table lists the overall "Ease of Doing Business" rank (out of 185 economies) and the rankings by each topic. It also lists the economy's distance to frontier (DTF)** measure. The rest of the tables summarize the key indicators for each topic and benchmark against regional and high-income economy (OECD) averages.

Economy Overview

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Economy Summary
Starting a Business
Dealing with Construction Permits
Getting Electricity
Registering Property
Getting Credit
Protecting Investors
Paying Taxes
Trading Across Borders
Enforcing Contracts
Resolving Insolvency
Region Latin America & Caribbean
Income Category High income
Population 3,706,690
GNI Per Capita (US$) 17,655
Doing Business 2013 Rank Doing Business 2012 Rank Change in Rank
41 38 down -3

Doing Business 2013 DTF** (% points) Doing Business 2012 DTF** (% points) Improvement in DTF** (% points)
70.6 69.8 down 0.8
Topic Rankings DB 2013 Rank DB 2012 Rank Change in Rank
Starting a Business 12 11 up -1
Dealing with Construction Permits 156 151 up -5
Getting Electricity 37 36 up -1
Registering Property 128 127 up -1
Getting Credit 12 9 up -3
Protecting Investors 19 17 up -2
Paying Taxes 104 108 up 4
Trading Across Borders 96 97 up 1
Enforcing Contracts 101 99 up -2
Resolving Insolvency 24 22 up -2

Economy Profile

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Doing Business Resources

Doing Business law library Law Library

Search for business laws and regulations in Puerto Rico (U.S.)

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Additional Topic

Additional Data

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Starting a Business

Info

The challenges of launching a business are shown below. Included are: the number of steps entrepreneurs can expect to go through to launch, the time it takes on average, and the cost and minimum capital required as a percentage of gross national income (GNI) per capita.

DB 2013 Rank 12 DB 2012 Rank 11 Change in Rank down-1
DB 2013 DTF** (% points) 89.9 DB 2012 DTF** (% points) 89.9 Improvement in DTF** (% points) 0.0
Indicator Puerto Rico (U.S.) Latin America & Caribbean OECD

The total number of procedures required to register a firm. A procedure is defined as any interaction of the company founders with external parties (for example, government agencies, lawyers, auditors or notaries).

View methodology Procedures (number)
6 9 5

The total number of days required to register a firm. The measure captures the median duration that incorporation lawyers indicate is necessary to complete a procedure with minimum follow-up with government agencies and no extra payments.

View methodology Time (days)
6 53 12

Cost is recorded as a percentage of the economy’s income per capita. It includes all official fees and fees for legal or professional services if such services are required by law.

View methodology Cost (% of income per capita)
0.9 33.7 4.5

The amount that the entrepreneur needs to deposit in a bank or with a notary before registration and up to 3 months following incorporation and is recorded as a percentage of the economy’s income per capita.

View methodology Paid-in Min. Capital (% of income per capita)
0.0 3.7 13.3
No. Procedure Time to Complete Associated Costs
1 Check online the uniqueness of the company name and Register online at the PR Department of State to obtain a business certificate 1 day $150 + $10 for the issuance of the Certificate of Existence
2 Apply for an employer identification number (EIN) with the Internal Revenue Service of the United States and the PR Department of Treasury 1 day no charge
3 Apply for a municipal business license (patente municipal) 1 day no charge
4 Request unemployment and disability account numbers from the PR Department of Labor and Human Resources (Departamento del Trabajo y Recursos Humanos) 1 day no charge
5 Subscribe to a workmen’s insurance policy 1 day no charge
6 File with the Registry of Merchants and Business, the Commercial Development Administration 1 day no charge

** The distance to frontier (DTF) measure shows the distance of each economy to the "frontier," which represents the highest performance observed on each of the indicators across all economies included in Doing Business since each indicator was included in Doing Business. An economy’s distance to frontier is indicated on a scale from 0 to 100, where 0 represents the lowest performance and 100 the frontier. Read more...

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