For the possible commission of the crime of Tax Fraud, the Superintendence of Tax Administration intervened the commercial company J.I. Cohen.
The intervention was authorized by the Pluripersonal Court of First Criminal Instance in Tax and Customs Matters of the Municipality and Department of Guatemala, informed the Superintendence of Tax Administration (SAT).
Chang y Compania and Mag Alcoholes, are two companies that during March were audited by local authorities, after the detection of the possible crime of tax and customs fraud.
Representatives of the Superintendencia de Administración Tributaria (SAT) informed that on March 10, the Juzgado Pluripersonal de Primera Instancia Penal en Materia Tributaria y Aduanera ("Pluripersonal Court of First Criminal Instance in Tax and Customs Matters") ordered the intervention of the company Mag Alcoholes, and on March 22, the Juzgado Quinto de Primera Instancia Penal ("Fifth Court of First Criminal Instance") ordered the intervention of the warehouse Chang y Compania.
The Legislative Assembly approved in second debate a bill that aims to tax in the country the sale and self-consumption of imported or locally produced cement.
The initiative, which was approved in the first debate in the Assembly in mid-February and is still pending approval by the Executive Branch, establishes that the tax will be on imported cement produced nationally, in bags or in bulk, for sale or self-consumption, of any kind, whose destination is the consumption and marketing of the product nationally.
In order for Guatemalan producers to compete under the same conditions as neighboring countries, the government is preparing a bill that seeks to exempt agricultural inputs from VAT.
The initiative, known as the "Fiscal Equity Law", is being prepared by the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Food (Maga), because, according to the institution's top official, other Central American countries do not charge value-added tax (VAT) on agricultural inputs.
The article of the law in Guatemala, which facilitated access to companies bank information via a court order requested by the tax authorities, has been temporarily suspended.
The decision was taken by the Constitutional Court after a company filed an appeal of unconstitutionality.Based on the arguments put forward, the CC decided to order the provisional suspension of Article 52, which empowered the Superintendency of Tax Administration (SAT) to request that a judge order the lifting of banking secrecy of individuals or companies when there was "...reasonable doubt about the results of the processes or execution of the selective and mass inspection plans'." See "Guatemala: Bank Secrecy Now Lifted"
The ICEFI states that the proposed reforms to the Free Zones Law in Guatemala encourage a public investment model based on tax privileges for specific groups of companies.
The Central American Institute of Fiscal Studies (Icefi) reiterates its arguments against continuing an obsolete and ineffective model of attracting public investment based on tax privileges for specific groups of companies and encourages the initiation of the discussion on a general investment law. For this reason, it does not recommend to the Congress of the Republic the approval of the reforms to the Law on Free Zones contained in the legal initiative with the registry number 5174.
A law has entered into force which facilitates access to individuals and companies' bank information with a court order at the request of tax authorities.
Francisco Solorzano, chief of the Superintendency of Tax Administration (SAT), noted that"... 'this tool will only be used when there is reasonable doubt about the results of the processes or execution of plans and mass selective control'."
Absence of initiatives to cut spending and lack of dialogue with the business sector are the main criticisms of the tax reform bill proposed by the Executive Power.
In addition to the expected impact on the productive activities that will be affected, such as mining, one of the criticisms of the project is the absence of issues related to transparency in the use of resources, a key issue after the corruption cases revealed in 2015.
A bill aims to increase the specific tax on cement distribution from $0.19 to $0.65.
The controversial tax on the distribution of sacks of cement in the country, which currently stands at $0.19 (Q1,5) could go back up to $0.65 (Q5), if the bill put forward by the Congress of the Housing Commission is successful.
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 legislature has finally passed the Employment Act granting exemptions for 10 years for call centers and maquilas operating in the country.
From a statement issued by the Congress of Guatemala:
With 113 votes in favor, members of the National Emergency Congress approved Decree 19-2016, Emerging Act for the Conservation of Employment, which exempts import tax for 10 years for call centers and maquilas operating in the country .
Reforms have been made to a proposed Emerging Act for Conservation of Employment in order to maintain tax incentives only for textile sectors and call centers, leaving out other activities that were previously exempt.
Deputy Ovidio Monzon, president of the Congress Working Committee confirmed that the aim is to maintain the privileges and exemptions for textile companies and call centers.
With entry into force once again of the rule on transfer pricing, companies must take into account all the requirements in order to avoid penalties and adjustments to income.
The regulations in force since January 1 require taxpayers to adequately demonstrate and justify "... the amounts of payments and / or profit margins in their transactions with related parties" in order to ensure fair competition and collection of taxes.
Employers are complaining that the lack of clarity over how the income tax law is applied is generating legal uncertainty.
The law on income tax that arose from the tax reforms two years ago is still raising doubts among private entrepreneurs, who believe that the lack of clarity on how it should be implemented not only casts doubts and causes legal uncertainty, but also generates more informality.