Memorandum on "Taxpayer Obligations' payment schedule and liabilities for September 2016.
From a Memorandum sent by Tezó and Associates:
Obligation of taxpayers
Article 51 of Decree No. 37-2016 added Article 21 "B" to the Tax Code, which states that obligations of taxpayers, whether they are subject to taxation or not, constitute among other things, as stated in paragraph 1 "Submission of declarations, notifications , self-assessments and other documents required by the tax legislation and tax administration for the performance of their duties." This obligation, in our opinion, when it comes to self - assessments, gives way to the procedure followed by the SAT to request correction of "inconsistencies", presenting rectifications to declarations and paying tax, which often is not omitted, but we pay in order to settle the case and not spend any more time on it. In these cases we must be sure that the right of defense has not been eliminated, instead of rectifying statements, we can request that we be granted Evacuation of a Hearing in order to start a defense process.
Compensation of $43 million to the State and a concession for 21 years for APM Terminals are part of the agreement made with the foreign company for it to operate the container terminal.
According to an article on Publinews, Anabella Morfin, Attorney General of the Nation, explained that"...APM and EPQ pledged to desist with the courts with their efforts to obtain a declaration of voiding due to incompetence, in order to streamline the operation of TCQ. "
The restrictions currently imposed on Guatemala in terms of air freedoms constitute a limiting factor to the competitiveness of its productive sectors.
EDITORIAL
In a recent webinar entitled "Open Skies Agreement and its Impact on Competitiveness"organized by Agexport, evidence was presented of the negative impact on Guatemala of having ratified only"... three of these freedoms(with the country only allowed to embark and disembark passengers and cargo in the state to which the airline belongs and at points within a reasonably direct route), and the limitations that this presents."
Without setting a date for a new proposal, the Executive has asked Congress to return the controversial bill.
After receivingcriticism because of the absence of reforms in the control and transparency of public expenditure, the Executive has requested the withdrawal from discussion in Congress of the tax reform bill, which aimed, among other things, to raise tax on the distribution of cement, mining and fuels.
Following the authorization granted to TCQ by the Superintendency of Tax Administration to function as a temporary customs warehouse, its entry into operations for October has been announced.
Anarticle in Prensalibre.comreports that"...The auditor of the TCQ, Alexander Aizenstatd said that with the authorization published in Diario de Centro América on Friday, an intermediate stage has started where there a link is formed with the authorities of the SAT, in order to subsequently ask for the entry into operation.'Closer ties have now been made with the National Port Commission for certification and following this a certification will be requested for the Marina.The plan is for the TCQ to be operational at the end of September, or beginning of October. ' "
Conflicts over land use and environmental legal actions have kept fourteen hydroelectric power generation projects paralyzed.
Of the fourteen hydroelectric projects on hold, according to the Association of Renewable Energy Generators (Ager), six were suspended for having been declared unconstitutional, two are in the "dialogue process", one is waiting for a ruling from the Constitutional Court and another " ...
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The Public Prosecutor and the CICIG have denounced cooptation of the state through a network of corruption headed by Pérez Molina and Roxana Baldetti and arrest warrants have been issued including for very high level entrepreneurs.
Among the employers that the CICIG has linked to this case are Flavio Montenegro, president and manager of Banco G & T Continental, Adolfo Fernando Peña of Banrural, Enrique Castellanos, general manager of Claro, and Alvaro Mayorga Giron, former president of the CACIF, among others.
The Executive Branch is considering the cancellation of the lease agreement between Ferrovías and Cobigua after the Attorney General's Office filed a complaint alleging anomalies.
The Executive is evaluating whether it will declare invalid the lease agreement between Compañía Desarrolladora Ferroviaria (Ferrovías) and Compañía Bananera Guatemalteca Independiente (Cobigua) days after the PGN filed a suit with the Public Prosecutor to start an investigation to determine " ... who were the people responsible for signing the contract, in addition to identifying what legal standards were used by Ferrovías to finalise the aforementioned contract, since that company has no power over the state." See "Corruption denounce in the concessioning and management of Puerto Quetzal" Lahora.gt reports that "...The contract entitles Cobigua to use the port of Puerto Barrios, Izabal, until 2048, after the expiry last year of the onerous usufruct contract, awarded in 1990. In the view of the former Attorney General of the Nation, Maria Eugenia Villagran, Ferrovías had no authority to give the port administration over to Cobigua."
In order to protect sources of employment the Panamanian government wants the US to grant permissions so that Waked Group companies can temporarily transact with US citizens and businesses.
From a statement issued by the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF):
Objective is to protect the jobs of Waked companies
Treasury Department has been asked to grant a license.
The identification of Grupo Waked in a money laundering network could result in significant changes in the representations of brands marketed in the country.
An article on Prensa.com cites Jorge Garcia Icaza, president of the Chamber of Commerce, Industries and Agriculture of Panama, who emphasized that restraint should excerised when dealing with the case in order to minimize damage which it is estimated could be caused, especially in relation to jobs in the companies under question.
Costa Rica and Guatemala are on the list of 23 countries that the US government considers necessary to monitor for violations of intellectual property rights.
On April 12, 2016, the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) released its 2016 Special 301 Report. The Special 301 Report is the result of an annual review of the state of intellectual property rights (IPR) protection and enforcement in U.S. trading partners around the world.
President Morales has already given clear signals that the concession contract with the company Puerto Quetzal TCB, will have to be canceled.
Despite being a decision which falls to the Attorney General's Office, in response to persistent queries by journalists, President Jimmy Morales said "... 'The declaration of invalidity is a fact that must be declared. '"
The acquisition of TCB by APM Terminals means that any dispute concerning the granting of Puerto Quetzal will involve the largest group in the world in the maritime sector, the Maersk shipping company.
Following the Public Ministry's denouncement of the existence of an illicit money laundering network operating in the Container Terminal at Quetzal , the government of Jimmy Morales is torn between declaring void the concession contract with the current operator, TCB, as recommended by the Attorney General's Office on several occasions, or making other arrangements with the company. The Morales government may have to negotiate with the Danish giant Maersk Group, which bought 100% of the shares of the Spanish TCB in October 2015, according to an article on Elperiodico.com.gt.