Puerto Rico Sales Tax Calculator (IVU)
Add or back out Puerto Rico's 11.5%, 7% or 4% IVU, with the state and municipal breakdown.
Amounts are computed in your browser — nothing is sentWork out the 11.5%, 7% or 4% IVU — or back it out of a receipt total
Decimals: use a period or a comma — 19.99 or 19,99.
What the IVU is and how it splits between the state and the municipio
The IVU — Impuesto sobre Ventas y Uso, Puerto Rico's sales and use tax — applies to most retail sales and services on the island. The general rate has been 11.5% since 2015 and still applies in 2026: 10.5% goes to the central government and 1% to the municipio where the sale happens. This calculator works in both directions: start from a pre-tax price and get the breakdown plus the total to charge, or start from a total already paid and see what the base price was and how much of it was tax.
Not everything pays 11.5%. Prepared foods — restaurants, food trucks, anything served hot or with utensils, along with carbonated drinks, pastries and candy — pay a reduced 7% rate (6% state + 1% municipal), but only at merchants holding a current Reduced Rate Certificate from Hacienda, Puerto Rico's treasury department; any consumer can check in SURI whether a business is authorized to charge 7%. Designated professional services and services billed to SURI-registered merchants (B2B) pay 4%; when the client is not a registered merchant, the general rate applies instead. The 4% is state-only: it carries no 1% municipal portion, so it should not appear on the invoice.
Some sales are fully exempt: unprepared groceries (raw meat, fresh fruit and vegetables, rice, bread, milk), prescription medications, and certain medical equipment. The line between exempt and taxed is usually preparation: raw chicken from the supermarket pays no IVU, rotisserie chicken ready to eat does. Bottled water from the grocery store is exempt; the same bottle at a restaurant is taxed at the prepared-food rate.
To back the IVU out of a total you do not subtract 11.5% — you divide by 1.115. Subtracting the percentage gives the wrong number, because the 11.5% was charged on the base price, not on the total. With round numbers: taking 11.5% off $111.50 would give $98.68, but the correct answer is $111.50 ÷ 1.115 = exactly $100.00. At the 7% rate the divisor is 1.07 and at 4% it is 1.04. The calculator does this division for you in remove mode, and the guide below shows the same formula for Excel.
The rates and rules on this page are verified against the Puerto Rico Department of Treasury's (Hacienda) publications as of August 2026; if a rate changes, the page gets updated. Everything runs in your browser — no amount is ever sent to a server — so it is safe to use with quotes, receipts, and real business figures. It is handy for balancing a register, preparing an invoice with the correct state/municipal IVU breakdown, or checking that a store charged you the rate it was supposed to.
How to back the IVU out of a total (divide, don't subtract)
The classic mistake is subtracting the percentage from the total. The IVU was charged on the base price, so undoing it means dividing the total by 1 plus the rate. The divisor depends on which rate was charged:
Price before IVU = Total / 1.115 (general rate, 11.5%)
Price before IVU = Total / 1.07 (prepared foods, 7%)
Price before IVU = Total / 1.04 (B2B services, 4%)
IVU paid = Total - Price before IVU- Take the receipt total (IVU included).
- Divide it by 1.115 (or 1.07 / 1.04, matching the rate charged).
- The result is the pre-tax price; the difference from the total is the tax you paid.
- To check: multiply the pre-tax price by the rate and it should equal that same tax.
With round numbers: a $111.50 total at the general rate. Dividing: $111.50 ÷ 1.115 = $100.00 base price and $11.50 of IVU. Subtracting 11.5% instead ($12.82) would give a $98.68 base — a $1.32 error that grows with the amount. On a $10,000 invoice the error passes $100.
The three IVU rates and when each one applies
| Rate | Breakdown | Applies to | Detail |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11.5% | 10.5% state + 1% municipal | Most consumer goods and services | The general rate, in force since 2015. |
| 7% | 6% state + 1% municipal | Prepared foods, carbonated drinks, pastries and candy | Only at merchants holding Hacienda's Reduced Rate Certificate; verify any business in SURI. |
| 4% | State only — no 1% municipal | Business-to-business services and designated professional services | Only when the client is a SURI-registered merchant (or the service is a designated professional service); the invoice carries no municipal portion. |
Beyond the three rates, some sales are fully exempt: unprepared groceries, prescription medications, and certain medical equipment. If a restaurant charges you 11.5% on prepared food, that can be legitimate — it means the merchant does not hold (or did not renew) the reduced-rate certificate; the 7% is a compliance-conditioned benefit for the business, not an automatic right of the dish.
What pays IVU — and what pays a different tax instead
Not every tax on a Puerto Rico receipt is IVU. Several everyday purchases sit entirely outside it because they carry their own tax, which is why a hotel bill or a car purchase never matches the 11.5% math:
| Purchase | What applies | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Retail goods, electronics, clothing | IVU 11.5% | The general rate: 10.5% state + 1% municipal. |
| Restaurant and prepared food | IVU 7% or 11.5% | 7% only at merchants holding the Reduced Rate Certificate; otherwise the general rate. |
| Unprepared groceries | Exempt | Raw meat, fresh produce, rice, bread, milk — no IVU at all. |
| Prescription medications | Exempt | Also certain medical equipment. |
| Hotel or short-term rental | Room occupancy tax, not IVU | Between 7% and 11% of the nightly rate depending on the type of lodging; extras like restaurant charges still pay IVU. |
| Vehicle purchase | Arbitrios (excise), not IVU | Paid on import or purchase and scaled to the vehicle's value. |
| Gasoline | Petroleum excise, not IVU | Charged per unit and already included in the pump price. |
This is the answer to the common surprise of visitors comparing a receipt against "the sales tax": if the line item is lodging, a car, or fuel, the percentage you see was never meant to be 11.5%.
Calculating the IVU in Excel or Google Sheets
IVU on a price (A2 = price before IVU):
=A2*0.115
Total with IVU included:
=A2*1.115
Back the IVU out of a total (A2 = total with IVU):
=A2/1.115
Just the IVU inside a total:
=A2-A2/1.115One regional-settings caveat: if your Excel uses a comma as the decimal separator, write the constants with a comma — =A2*1,115 — or Excel will read 1.115 as the number one thousand one hundred fifteen. There are no named functions here, so nothing else differs between English and Spanish Excel.
FAQ
How much is sales tax in Puerto Rico in 2026?
The general rate is 11.5% — 10.5% state plus 1% municipal — unchanged since 2015. Two special rates exist: 7% (6% + 1%) for prepared foods at merchants holding Hacienda's Reduced Rate Certificate, and 4% — state-only, with no municipal portion — for business-to-business services and designated professional services.
How do I back the IVU out of a total?
Divide the total by 1.115 (general rate) to get the pre-tax price; the difference is the tax. At the 7% rate divide by 1.07, and at 4% divide by 1.04. Do not subtract the percentage: taking 11.5% off $111.50 gives $98.68, but the correct base price is $111.50 ÷ 1.115 = $100.00, because the IVU was charged on the base price, not on the total.
What is exempt from IVU?
Unprepared groceries (raw meat, fruit, vegetables, rice, bread, milk), prescription medications, and certain medical equipment are exempt. The same food sold ready to eat is taxed — the test is usually whether it comes prepared, hot, or with utensils. And the 7% prepared-food rate may only be charged by certified merchants; you can verify any business in SURI.
Is Puerto Rico's sales tax the highest in the US?
Yes. The 11.5% general IVU is higher than the combined state-plus-local sales tax anywhere in the fifty states — the highest state averages, in Louisiana and Tennessee, sit around 9.5–10%. The structure is also different: 10.5% goes to the central government and a uniform 1% to the municipio, and special 7% and 4% rates exist that most US states have no equivalent for.
Do online purchases shipped to Puerto Rico pay IVU?
Generally yes. Since Puerto Rico adopted marketplace-facilitator rules in 2020, large marketplaces and remote sellers collect the 11.5% IVU at checkout on shipments to the island. If a remote seller does not collect it, the purchase is still technically subject to use tax, which the buyer can declare through SURI — that is the "U" in IVU.
Do tourists pay IVU, and is there a refund?
Tourists pay IVU on purchases like anyone else, and unlike European VAT there is no refund scheme when leaving the island. Two common tourist expenses are outside the IVU because they carry their own taxes: lodging pays a room occupancy tax (between 7% and 11% depending on the type of lodging) instead of IVU on the nightly rate, and vehicle purchases pay an excise tax (arbitrios) instead.