Question & AnswerQ&A (Act No. 2656.)
The main purpose of Act No. 2656 is to make the penalties for delinquency in the payment of the personal cedula tax less onerous to the taxpayer and to provide for the manner in which a current cedula may be paid at the same time as cedulas for former years.
If the personal cedula tax is paid after April 30 but not after June 30 of the current year, a surtax of fifty percent shall be collected.
If the personal cedula tax is paid after June 30 of the current year, the surtax shall be as provided by the existing law at that time.
No criminal process can be commenced for delinquency in the payment of the personal cedula tax until the year in which such cedula ought to have been paid has expired.
Upon commencement of any criminal process for delinquency in payment, an imprisonment of five days shall be imposed for each unpaid cedula.
A delinquent person may obtain a current year's cedula by paying at the same time for a cedula for the first year in which they were delinquent and subscribing to a prescribed affidavit agreeing to pay all unpaid cedulas for the delinquent years.
The affidavit includes a declaration to pay the unpaid cedulas at a rate of one cedula for every six months, and an agreement not to change residence without informing the municipal treasurer of the new location, with the warning that noncompliance will annul the agreement and subject the person to existing legal penalties.
The personal cedula tax is a local tax collected from individuals, the payment of which is subject to specific penalties if delinquent, as regulated by the Act.
Noncompliance results in the annulment of the agreement and subjects the delinquent taxpayer to the proceedings and penal provisions of existing law relating to personal cedula tax delinquency.