Tuesday 14
Monthly income tax deductions for employees -
Deductions for capital income on property and goods (interest)
ISR Declaration on income from capital from property and goods (if not retained)
ISR Declaration on income from capital gains
Memorandum on submissions of tax reports for sales inventories up to June 30 to be handed in by taxpayers to the SAT before July 31, 2015.
Tax Memorandum of Tezó and Associates:
Article 42 of Decree No. 10-2012, and Article 32 of its Regulations regulate taxpayers in the Regime for Nonprofit Activities, must report to the SAT inventories for stocks available for sale as at 30 June December 31 each year.
The Tax Authority has announced the implementation of its program of massive audits of firms for March and April.
From a statement issued by the Superintendency of Tax Administration (SAT):
The Tax Authority within its functions to monitor compliance with tax obligations and billing for services and sale of products, is now conducting checks on billing and fixed points at different types of existing businesses.
As part of the agreements signed between the two governments the elimination of double taxation has been established.
From a statement issued by the Government of Guatemala:
Within the framework of an official visit by President Otto Perez Molina which will took place on Friday, the Governments of Guatemala and Mexico signed the following bilateral agreements:
Despite several announcements of new taxes, the government will focus on controlling tax evasion and leave the decision to implement a tax reform to future administrations.
According to authorities at the Ministry of Finance, at the moment there is no consensus for fiscal reform. The priority now will be to pursue and strengthen tax administration in order to meet budget expenditures this year.
In an attempt to increase tax revenues, the executive announced that it is now considering taxing the distribution of soft drinks such as juices, isotonics and sodas.
It is expected that in the first week of February analysis will be presented of modifications to the tax on the distribution of beverages and on tobacco and tobacco products, with the aim of obtaining more resources to finance the national budget for this year.
In order to encourage investment in the country, starting from this fiscal year income tax paid by taxpayers registered in the regime on profits will be reduced from 28% to 25%.
According to the latest amendment of the Law on Tax Update, Decree 10-2012, the rate of income tax (ISR) applied to taxpayers from 2015 will be 25%. The authorities clarified that the rate of 28% will be applied to taxpayers who have not yet completed the liquidation of 2014
The Executive is considering increasing taxes on cigarettes and alcoholic beverages as an option for balancing the 2015 budget.
With the provisional suspension of the tax on telephone lines the Guatemalan government is left with a deficit $237 million, approximately, which is why it is looking at bridging the gap using new taxes on liquor and cigarettes, as the main alternative.
The application of tax of $0.65 per mobile phone line that had been proposed by the Executive to fund part of the 2015 budget has been temporarily suspended.
The Constitutional Court temporarily suspended the collection of the tax on telephone lines after the Chamber of Industry and the three phone companies operating in the country submitted an appeal against the tax.
The argument is that the tax on cement will increase the cost of housing by at least 6% and the tax on phones will directly affect users of prepaid telephone lines.
From a statement issued by the Chamber of Industry of Guatemala:
The Chamber of Industry of Guatemala emphasizes that even though it promptly denounced the risk of lack of transparency and accountability of the state budget for Fiscal Year 2015, it has been approved and will lead to negative impacts on the population.
In order to finance the 2015 budget, Congress has approved a tax of $0.65 for the distribution of each sack of cement weighing 42.5 kg and the same amount for each mobile or fixed telephone line.
Between the two taxes it is hoped that a total of approximately $2,607 million will be raised to finance the General Budget of the Nation in 2015.
In the case of taxes on mobiles and fixed telephone lines, "...
The new head of the Superintendency of Banks intends to resume the discussion in Congress of a bill which would regulate banking secrecy in the country by way of tax audits.
With the aim of improving tax controls, the Superintendency of Banks (SIB) seeks to reform national legislation for the regulation of banking secrecy in order to access "... Banking information of taxpayers, under guarantees of confidentiality."
The average tax burden for the region is 13.4% of GDP, while the average public expenditure increased from 18.7% in 2013 to 19.2% at the end of 2014.
From the Introduction of the report Macrofiscal profiles in Central America, from Instituto Centroamericano de Estudios Fiscales (Icefi):
The fiscal situation has worsened in Central America in recent months, mainly due to a structural lack of sufficient resources to meet the needs of Central Americans and realize many of the commitments made by governments.
Discussion is being given to hiring an external company to provide consulting services in order to improve the management and collection of taxes.
The proposal which emerged from the leadership of former Finance Minister Pavel Centeno, is once again gaining strength at a time when the Tax Authority is analysing different alternatives to raising tax revenue.