Tyler Perry’s Puerto Rico Move Lands as Act 60 Rules Shift
Tyler Perry says he will move to Puerto Rico in early 2027, the same year new Act 60 investor applicants start paying 4% on gains that were tax-free.
PhotoThe short version
- Filmmaker Tyler Perry said on TODAY on Sept. 14 that he is moving to Puerto Rico at the start of 2027 to slow down and spend more time with his 11-year-old son, TODAY reported
- Under Act 38-2026, people who apply for a resident investor decree from Jan. 1, 2027 pay 4% on qualifying interest, dividends and post-move capital gains instead of 0%, and the program runs through 2055
- Puerto Rico issued 5,852 resident investor decrees between 2012 and 2024, peaking at 1,143 in 2021, according to a December 2025 GAO report
- Housing advocates say the extension ignores displacement and rising costs, NotiCel reported; the GAO says federal oversight of decree holders has been slow
Perry’s announcement
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (Oct. 12, 2026) — Tyler Perry, the filmmaker and studio owner long identified with Atlanta, says Puerto Rico will be his next home. “I am officially moving to Puerto Rico,” Perry told TODAY correspondent Justin Sylvester in an interview released Sept. 14, adding that he would move “at the top of the year,” TODAY reported. Asked why, he pointed to age: “It’s time to slow down a little bit, enjoy more time with my son.” Perry turned 57 on Sept. 13 and has an 11-year-old son, Aman.
Perry did not say where on the island he will live or whether taxes played a role. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that it is unclear why he chose Puerto Rico, that he keeps homes in several places, and that a person close to Tyler Perry Studios said the Atlanta studio will not close or relocate. The Independent noted that Perry faces two lawsuits from actors alleging sexual misconduct, which he has denied.
The announcement has since turned up in real-estate marketing. A flyer from San Juan brokerage The Colectivo Group, shared with PuertoRico.com, pairs Perry’s plans with a pitch to wealthy buyers about upcoming Act 60 changes. Perry has not linked his move to the incentives.
What changes for new investors in 2027
Gov. Jenniffer González Colón signed House Bill 505 as Act 38-2026, which the DDEC says was enacted on March 10, 2026. It rewrites the Resident Individual Investor program, the successor to the 2012 Act 22 that is now part of the Act 60 Incentives Code. El Vocero reported that the governor framed the 4% charge as a way for the island to start getting a return on the incentive.
According to DDEC Informative Bulletin 2026-004, applications received through the Incentives Portal by 11:59 p.m. on Dec. 31, 2026 keep the old terms: 0% Puerto Rico tax on qualifying interest, dividends and capital gains that accrue after the move, in a decree that expires Dec. 31, 2035. Applications filed on or after Jan. 1, 2027 get a fixed 4% rate on that income, and the program can run through Dec. 31, 2055.
New applicants must also show they were not Puerto Rico residents during the six years before moving, and must buy a home on the island as their primary residence within two years of receiving the decree, Microjuris summarized. The annual donation of at least $10,000 to Puerto Rico nonprofits remains. None of this changes U.S. federal rules: decree holders must still qualify as bona fide residents of Puerto Rico under IRS tests to exclude Puerto Rico-source income from federal tax.
What the numbers show
The Government Accountability Office counted 5,852 resident investor decrees granted from 2012 through 2024, using DDEC data. Grants climbed to 1,143 in 2021, as remote work spread during the pandemic, then fell to 436 in 2024. Not every decree is used: from 2021 to 2023, 3,165 people filed Puerto Rico returns claiming a resident investor decree. About 57% of 2021 filers whose prior state could be identified came from California, Florida, New York or Texas.
The cost to the treasury is large. The GAO cited estimates from Puerto Rico’s Treasury Department (Hacienda) that the resident investor incentive will cost the government $4.4 billion in forgone revenue from 2020 through 2026, against economic studies done for the government that point to more activity and jobs. The GAO called the overall effect on the economy hard to isolate.
Housing worries and federal scrutiny
Critics say the law misses the island’s housing crisis. The coalition PR No Se Vende said the extension to 2055 does nothing about real-estate speculation or displacement, NotiCel reported, citing Habitat for Humanity Puerto Rico’s estimate that the island lacks more than 70,000 affordable rental units. El Vocero noted that Hacienda has not publicly confirmed the coalition’s revenue-loss figures.
The federal data are mixed. The GAO found that home prices and rents in Puerto Rico rose more slowly than in the U.S. as a whole over the past decade; Census survey figures show median gross rent rising 24% from 2012 to 2023, to $557, versus 59% nationally. It also cited a 2024 DDEC report finding that 37% of decree holders owned a home on the island, with an average value above $5 million as of 2020.
Meanwhile, the IRS has audited decree holders under a compliance campaign it announced in 2021, but the effort was slow to show results, the GAO reported; it lacked complete data from Hacienda until 2025 and lost dozens of revenue agents in 2025. It recommended that the IRS routinely obtain current Hacienda data and send educational letters to decree holders.
Where the sources differ
Outlets agree on Perry’s quotes and timing; The Independent’s transcript words the son quote slightly differently (“slow down a bit”), and this story uses TODAY’s version. Sources on Act 38-2026 agree on the 4% rate, the Dec. 31, 2026 cutoff and the 2055 horizon. Hacienda’s forgone-revenue estimates and the coalition’s figures are not the same measure.
What the reports do not say
Perry has not said where he will live, whether he will apply for an Act 60 decree, or whether he will sell any U.S. homes. No source cited here gives a current count of active decree holders for 2025 or 2026, and the GAO did not report audit results.
Read more on PuertoRico.com
- Act 60 guide: what changes in 2027
- Moving to Puerto Rico
- Dorado town guide
- Rincón town guide
- San Juan guide
Sources
Every link below was opened and checked when this story was published. Official means a government body, agency or the organization itself; Reporting means a news outlet.
- Reporting Tyler Perry Shares Plans for a Big Move After His 57th Birthday
- Reporting Tyler Perry plans to relocate to Puerto Rico. What about his Atlanta studio?
- Reporting Tyler Perry reveals reason he’s moving to Puerto Rico
- Official Ley 38-2026
- Official Informative Bulletin DDEC No. 2026-004
- Reporting Gobernadora firma ley que impone contribución de 4% a nuevos inversionistas bajo la Ley 60
- Reporting Piden no extender los beneficios de la Ley 22 hasta el 2055
- Official Puerto Rico: IRS Should Improve Oversight of Taxpayers Claiming Exemption from Federal Taxes (GAO-26-107225)
- Reporting Enmiendas al Código de Incentivos sobre Individuos Residentes Inversionistas - Ley Núm. 38-2026
How we checked this
Perry’s plans come from his TODAY interview, with context from the AJC and The Independent. The Act 60 changes were checked against the text of Act 38-2026 and DDEC Bulletin 2026-004; decree counts, revenue estimates, housing data and IRS findings come from GAO-26-107225; criticism comes from NotiCel and El Vocero. PuertoRico.com’s Act 60 guide is published in partnership with The Colectivo Group; that firm had no role in this story.
Compiled by the PuertoRico.com News Desk from the reports and statements listed above, and checked against them before publishing. It does not include original interviews. Spot an error? Email support@puertorico.com with a link to this story.