As part of the process of digitalization of tax procedures, as of July 1, 2021, taxpayers who register with the Superintendence of Tax Administration will be added to the Online Electronic Invoice regime.
Data from the Superintendence of Tax Administration (SAT) show that as of March 2021, 265,620 taxpayers had already registered in the Online Electronic Invoice (FEL) regime.
In order to force companies to comply with the payment of taxes on sales made through electronic channels, as of June 2021 SAT will begin to use a digital platform that will analyze the information that appears on social networks.
The restrictions on mobility decreed during 2020 due to the outbreak of covid-19 and the change in consumption habits, boosted the growth of online sales in the Guatemalan market.
After IC Power Asia Development sued the Guatemalan State for violating its rights under the Agreement for the Promotion and Reciprocal Protection of Investments, the Permanent Court of Arbitration ruled in favor of the Guatemalan government.
On February 20, 2018, the Israeli entity IC Power Asia Development LTD. (former owner of Energuate) sued the State of Guatemala as a result of an inspection carried out by the Superintendence of Tax Administration (SAT), to verify the liquidation of Income Tax (ISR), informed the Ministry of Economy (Mineco).
In this scenario of economic crisis, falling tax revenues and the need to finance recovery programs, in Guatemala and Costa Rica it is already proposed to increase current taxes and create new ones.
Guatemalan authorities are already beginning to discuss the fiscal policy they will apply in 2021, when the economy will have to face the effects of the economic crisis generated by the covid-19 outbreak.
The Superintendence of Tax Administration declared the days between March 24 and April 14 as non-working days for the purposes of calculating the periods established in the tax legislation.
On March 24, Resolution of the Superintendence of Tax Administration Number SAT-DSI-280-2020 was published in the Official Journal, in which the days of March 24, 25, 26, 27, 30 and 31, 2020, and April 1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 8, 13 and 14, 2020, inclusive, were declared non-working days for purposes of deferring the computation of the terms established in the tax legislation and the internal administrative procedures of this entity.
The changes that had been made to the Regulation of the Value Added Tax Law in Guatemala came into effect.
This is Governmental Agreement 222-2019 modifying the Regulation of the Value Added Tax Law, which contains provisions regarding the mechanisms for the recovery of the tax credit to exporters created by Decree 4-2019, informed the exporters' union.
In Guatemala, Congress is discussing a bill that seeks to increase the arrival of flights to the country through tax incentives for airlines, which would be coupled with the elimination of improper tax charges.
On August 14, 2019, the President of the Legislative Branch, Álvaro Arzú Escobar, presented to Congress initiative 5585, which has the support of the International Air Transport Association (IATA), the Latin American and Caribbean Air Transport Association (ALTA) and the Guatemalan Association of Air Lines (AGLA). See full bill.
As a result of the elimination of banking secrecy in Guatemala, the business sector announces that it will be alert to "respect due process and the confidentiality of taxpayers.
One year after having suspended access to taxpayers' bank information for fiscal purposes, at the beginning of August the Constitutional Court ruled definitively and revoked the suspension, so that in the coming weeks the changes will begin to apply.
Experts and authorities believe that the ruling by the Guatemalan Constitutional Court revoking the suspension preventing access to taxpayers' bank information for fiscal purposes could be reversed with another legal action.
In recent days, the issue has become more relevant in the country, because after a year of being suspended access to banking information for tax purposes, on August 6 the Constitutional Court finally ruled, authorizing the Superintendence of Tax Administration (SAT) to review the accounts of taxpayers.
One year after the suspension of taxpayers' access to bank information for tax purposes, the Guatemalan Constitutional Court ruled definitively and revoked the suspension.
Although poor social indicators and a low tax burden are a threat to the country's progress, for Fitch the Guatemalan economy has the capacity to overcome external adversities.
After the last visit of Fitch Ratings to Guatemala, representatives of the rating agency expressed the opinion that health, education and security indicators, together with the tax situation, are issues that should concern the country.
Calendar of payments of obligations corresponding to December 2018 and tax memorandum on the data update before the Superintendence of Tax Administration.
Tax calendar of obligations corresponding to December 2018:
Friday, 14th
Monthly Income Tax withholdings for Employees
Friday, 14th
Withholdings on income from real estate and furniture (interest)
"Public debt in terms of simple average for the Central American region will continue growing, reaching 43.1% of GDP in 2018, after having registered 42.5% in 2017."
The Central American Institute of Fiscal Studies (Icefi) estimates that for the current year the size of public expenditure of the Central Government in relation to the respective Gross Domestic Product of each country will be 21.4% in Costa Rica, 20.4% in El Salvador, 20% in Honduras, 18.4% in Nicaragua, 17.6% in Panama and 12.1% in Guatemala.
Calendar of payment of obligations corresponding to March 2018 and Tax Memorandum on how and when to use credit notes.
From a tax memorandum by Tezó y Asociados:
The VAT Law establishes that in specific cases, duly justified and in order toprovide taxpayers with timely compliance with their tax obligations, the Tax Administration is able to authorize, at the request of theTaxpayer, the issuance of other documents, additional to the Credit Notes that document returns, cancellations or discounts on operations already paid for.