Court Decision Eliminates Bank Secrecy

One year after the suspension of taxpayers' access to bank information for tax purposes, the Guatemalan Constitutional Court ruled definitively and revoked the suspension.

Wednesday, August 7, 2019

The issue had been on hold since August 2018, when the country's highest court temporarily suspended the article of the law that in Guatemala granted companies access to banking information with a court order at the request of the tax authorities.

Manuel Mejicanos, legal intendant of the Superintendency of Tax Administration (SAT), told Prensalibre.com that "... they are "pleased" by the ruling of the CC and the action of partial general unconstitutionality of article 30 "C" of the Tax Code, which in a few words will allow the tax investigation cases to be taken up again by the unit in charge."

Óscar Chile Monroy, tax consultant, specified that "... the SAT will not only be able to acquire banking information, but also the type of operations that taxpayers have such as bank loans, security boxes or even if a person is a guarantor for a credit, since the law is broad to provide the powers to the SAT."

The issue of the suspension of access to banking information was the subject of controversy during the last few months, since at the beginning of May, during the IMF visit, the organization also pronounced itself, affirming that the current situation, in addition to weakening the collection, could undermine Guatemala's compliance with international transparency treaties.

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) also decided to include Guatemala in the list of countries that do not comply with their commitments regarding fiscal information, arguing that it does not comply with the standards on transparency and exchange of information for tax purposes.

SAT will be able to access taxpayer information when the ruling becomes effective and is published in the Diario de Centro América.

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