SURI Puerto Rico: A Practical Guide for Business Owners

If you have a business in Puerto Rico, SURI is the system you need to learn to work with. Most of your obligations before the Department of the Treasury (Hacienda) — monthly IVU, estimated tax payments, return filing, withholding statements, payment plans — go through it.

The problem is that SURI is not intuitive. Many merchants reach the portal for the first time when a deadline is already looming, do not know where to go, and end up more confused than when they started.

This guide explains what SURI is, how it is organized, what you can do in each section, and the most common mistakes worth avoiding.

What is SURI?

SURI — Sistema Unificado de Rentas Internas (Unified Internal Revenue System) — is the electronic portal of the Puerto Rico Department of the Treasury. It replaced paper filing processes and became the main channel for tax transactions starting in the late 2010s.

Under Internal Revenue Circular Letter 18-16, as of December 10, 2018 all transactions related to withholding at source, including deposits and filing of withholding statements, are performed exclusively through SURI.

And under Circular Letter 18-17, to perform any transaction in SURI the taxpayer must be registered and have an active account.

You can access it at: suri.hacienda.pr.gov

How to create your SURI account

If you do not have an account, registration is the first step. You need:

• Social Security number (individuals) or Employer Identification Number (EIN) for entities
• Personal or entity identification information
• An active email address

The registration process generates a username and password. Hacienda may require additional verification for certain account types or transactions.

Once registered, SURI shows you a main dashboard with accounts linked to your taxpayer profile — Income Tax, IVU, Withholding, among others, depending on your registration obligations.

Main sections of SURI

Account dashboard (Summary)

The main screen shows all active accounts linked to your taxpayer number. Each account represents a type of obligation:

• IVU — For the monthly sales and use tax return
• Income Tax — Individual — For estimated payments, refunds, and annual return balance
• Income Tax — Corporation — For corporate entities
• Withholding — For withholding deposits and quarterly employer returns
• Pass-Through Entity — For Form 480.2(EC)

Each account shows the current balance (if any is pending), recent payments, and shortcuts to the most common transactions.

IVU — What you can do

The IVU account is where merchants log in most often, since the return is filed monthly.

File the Monthly IVU Return (SC 2915):

1. Select the IVU account
2. Select "File return" or "Monthly declaration"
3. Enter sales for the period (sales at 11.5%, sales at 4% B2B, exempt sales)
4. SURI automatically calculates IVU due
5. Pay electronically and save the confirmation number

If your sales for the month were zero, you must still log in and file a zero return — the filing obligation exists even if you did not sell anything.

Payment methods accepted in SURI per Hacienda Information Bulletin 20-03: ACH electronic payment (bank debit), credit or debit card (with service fee), and registered bank account.

Income Tax — What you can do

Here you manage quarterly estimated tax payments, check the status of your annual return, and view processed refunds.

Pay estimated tax:

1. Select your Income Tax account
2. Select "Make payment" or "Estimated payment"
3. Indicate the tax year and installment number (1st, 2nd, 3rd, or 4th)
4. Enter the amount and complete payment

Always save the confirmation number. It is the only proof that you made the payment if there is a later discrepancy.

Add a bank account for 2025 tax relief: To receive the 2025 tax relief check by direct deposit (if you did not include a bank account on your return), SURI enabled a specific section for "2025 Tax Relief — Add bank account" accessible from the Summary of your Individual Income Tax account.

Withholding — What you can do

If you are an employer or withholding agent, this section is for:

• Depositing employee income tax withholdings (monthly)
• Filing the Quarterly Employer Return (499 R-1B)
• Filing withholding statements (W-2PR, 480.6B) at year-end

Statements can be filed three ways in SURI:

1. Manual entry — Form by form, up to 2,000 per type
2. Excel file upload — Using the template available in the SURI "Downloads" section
3. Text file upload — For large volumes, using the format in Hacienda Publication 25-01

Forms filed through SURI are processed in 1 to 2 business days before you can print them.

Correspondence and notifications

SURI includes a correspondence section where Hacienda can send notifications, information requests, and determinations directly to your portal inbox. It is important to review this section periodically — Hacienda considers notification in SURI legally valid even if you did not see the message.

If you have a letter from Hacienda that mentions your SURI account number or directs you to the portal to respond, the response can also be made through this section in some cases.

Payment plan

If you have a balance with Hacienda and cannot pay it in full, SURI has a section to request a payment plan. The process includes:

1. Select the account with a pending balance
2. Select the payment plan option
3. Propose terms (monthly amount, duration)
4. Hacienda evaluates and approves or counters

Not all balances qualify for a payment plan through SURI — some require direct handling at Hacienda service centers. But the portal option is the starting point.

Most common SURI mistakes

Not saving the confirmation number. Every completed transaction in SURI generates a confirmation number. Without it, proving a payment in a dispute is significantly harder.

Filing the IVU return for the wrong period. SURI lets you select the period the return applies to. If you file for the wrong month by mistake, the system may record it in the wrong period — creating inconsistencies in your history.

Not registering your SURI account in time. Some transactions require an active SURI account. If you try to register for the first time on the 20th (IVU deadline), verification may not finish in time.

Assuming payment completed without verifying confirmation. A session that expires during payment can result in a payment that did not process. Always verify you received the confirmation number before closing the session.

Not updating bank information when it changes. If you have a pending refund or tax relief payment, bank information in SURI must be current. A closed account or incorrect information results in returned checks and delays.

A note on your account security

Because SURI centralizes access to all your tax activity, account security matters. Use a unique, strong password, do not share it with anyone without explicit authorization to manage your affairs before Hacienda, and update your contact information if it changes so notifications reach the correct email.

If you suspect your account was compromised, contact Hacienda immediately through taxpayer service channels.

When you need help with SURI

SURI solves access — but not strategy. Knowing how to navigate the portal does not tell you what to report, how to classify your sales, what withholding rate applies to a supplier, or how to structure a payment plan that fits your cash flow.

The tool is available. Knowing what to do with it is another matter.

If you have questions about how to handle a specific situation in SURI — an unexpected balance, a return that does not reconcile, a Hacienda notification in the portal — you can request an initial evaluation with no commitment to understand exactly what is happening and what the right next step is.