Guatemalan agricultural exporters have questioned the measure taken by the Treasury to seize bank accounts in order to recover unpaid taxes, arguing that it is affecting their operations.
Arguing that the measure is attached to the law, the Tax Administration has defended its right to take injunctive measures such as seizing bank accounts in order to recover taxes that companies have stopped paying.
In the customs offices of Tecun Uman working hours have been extended both on the Guatemalan and Mexican side in order to allow passage of trucks which until now had been left stranded.
The Superintendent of Tax Administration is also operating an extraordinary timetable, a measure which could be extended for a few days, depending on what is decided at the end of the weekend.
Companies operating under the Law for the Promotion of Export Activities and Maquilas will be able to deduct the VAT paid on electricity.
By presenting a certifying document to the Superintendency of Tax Administration (SAT) exporters will be exempted from paying VAT on their electricity bill, since it is a"...
Within three to four months the SAT plans to start implementing a selective "blue" process, which involves clearing containers so that they only go through one documentary process or warehousing goods inspection.
The measure aims to streamline the inspection process, free up space in ports and reduce waiting times, explained Werrner Ovalle, intendent of Customs.
The tax authority is insisting on the impossibility of complying with information exchange agreements with other countries if banking secrecy is not eliminated for tax purposes.
Amid the discussion in Congress of the draft Law for Strengthening Fiscal Transparency and Governance of the Tax Administration, the superintendent Solórzano Foppa reemphasized the need to allow access to taxpayers' tax information for tax purposes by means of authorization given by a judge. He also announced that preparations are being made for "... a new control plan with which an attempt will be made to recover the power to collect taxes on income earned outside of Guatemala that are transferred to offshore accounts."
The amount paid to the Tax Authority corresponds to unpaid taxes, plus penalties and interest.
An article on Lahora.gt reports that the Superintendent of the SAT, Juan Francisco Solorzano, said that "... It is the largest payment made by any entity, in relation to adjustments that had been made or that had been ordered as a result of a judicial process from which it was ruled that there was tax fraud or tax evasion. "
Free zone companies have denounced that lack of regulation for the emerging employment law is preventing them from selling products completed before the law came into force.
As well as the finished and ready to be marketed products there are also raw materials, machinery and other production materials which entered the free zone before the new law was passed and are now in a legal vacuum, because of the absence of regulation to establish the treatment to be given to them in the context of the new legislation.
The Superintendent of Tax Administration has contradicted the announcement made by the finance minister and ruled out a possible tax amnesty in the short term.
The highest tax authorities in Guatemala are contradicting each other. Although the minister of Finance, Julio Héctor Estrada, announced a possible tax amnesty for the second half of this year, Juan Francisco Solórzano Foppa, head of the Tax Authority (SAT) said in remarks published by Elperiodico.com.gt that "there will not be a tax amnesty".
It has been announced a tender will be launched in April for an electronic system to check containers.
After several failed attempts, it has now been announced the tender to install a tracking system to track and monitor the location of containers in Guatemala will be held no later than April, according to the Superintendent of Tax Administration, Francisco Solórzano Foppa.
It has been reported that the country's vehicle fleet grew by 8.4% in 2015 and reached a record 3 million units.
Statistics from the Motor Vehicle Fiscal Registry of the Superintendency of Tax Administration (SAT) published by Prensalibre.com, show that the vehicle fleet in the country reached 3,012,535 units of vehicles in February 2015, reflecting growth of 131% in 10 years.
In protest against the slow pace with which procedures are processed at customs offices, a group of customs managers and truck drivers have blocked off the entrance to the terminal facilities.
Soy502.com reports that on Friday afternoon "... a group of about 350 people blocked access to facilities of the Port of Santo Tomas de Castilla." The blockades started on Wednesday, March 9, causing delays and discomfort for exporters and importers.
Reviewing the regulation on banking secrecy and replacing the board of the SAT with a new Administrative Tax and Customs Tribunal are part of the proposals to improve tax administration in the country.
From a statement issued by the Central Institute for Fiscal Studies (Icefi):
Guatemala.- During the session of the Committee on Public Finance and Currency of the Congress, on February 19, the Icefi participated in a specific working session to discuss amendments to the Organic Law of the Superintendency of Tax Administration (SAT ), during which the final version of the Diagnostic was released and a roadmap proposed for effective tax administration.
The Guatemalan Tax Authority has announced that the start of operations at the terminal, originally scheduled for December, will now be in February 2016.
Lack of a special dredging activities which must be carried out using machinery that will arrive in the country in January is the main reason for the delay to the start of operations.
Francisco Rivera, interim superintendent, told S21.com.gt that "...
On December 8 inspections and customs controls began on people and goods arriving aboard international private flights at La Aurora International Airport.
Preparations for the protocol establishing customs controls by the Superintendency of Tax Administration (SAT) started in August, following an agreement signed between the SAT and and the ministries of Communications, Agriculture and Interior.
Before March 31, 2016 companies with related parties abroad must present a transfer pricing study.
Elperiodico.com.gt reports that "...Angela Paniagua, an auditor from the firm Ixcamparij Mejia y Asociados, explained that a lot of companies have not been notified that they must fulfill this obligation. The SAT only included a box in which they had to 'tick" if the company has operations abroad and asked for details for the tax administration database. There is lack of knowledge on the subject, because of, among other things, lack of disclosure of implications and a guide to the issues that must be reported to the SAT, said the auditor. "