Accounting & Tax in Guatemala
Stay current on SAT's ISR, IVA, and FEL electronic invoicing requirements year-round, so your Guatemalan S.A. never loses good standing.
Annual Return Deadline
March 31
Tax ID
NIT
Primary Registry
SAT
Accounting & Tax in Guatemala: What You Need to Know
A Guatemalan S.A. pays 25% ISR under the Régimen sobre las Utilidades, with quarterly advance payments due the 10th of the month following each quarter-end and an annual sworn return due within the first 3 calendar months of the year, or can instead use the Régimen Opcional Simplificado's tiered rate on gross income with no expense deductions. IVA runs at 12%, filed monthly. FEL electronic invoicing is mandatory for every active-NIT taxpayer with no small-business exception, requiring a current RTU, active e-signature, and a contracted authorized certifier. Double-entry accounting books must be authorized by SAT under the Código de Comercio and preserved through the life of the business. Related-party transactions with a foreign parent require an Anexo de Precios de Transferencia filed with the annual ISR return, backed by a full Transfer Pricing Study, an area SAT has been actively auditing on recent-year filings. Any employer with 3 or more workers also owes a monthly IGSS payroll filing, with matching employee-level records kept in the company's own books.
Key Requirements
25% ISR under the Régimen sobre las Utilidades, with quarterly advance payments due the 10th of the month following each quarter-end and an annual sworn return within the first 3 calendar months of the year, or the alternative Régimen Opcional Simplificado's tiered rate on gross income (5% up to Q300,000, 7% on the excess) with no expense deductions
12% IVA, filed monthly
FEL (Factura Electrónica en Línea) mandatory for every active-NIT taxpayer, with no small-business exception, requiring a current RTU, active e-signature, and a contracted authorized certifier
Double-entry accounting books authorized (habilitados) by SAT under the Código de Comercio, preserved through the life of the business and through final liquidation, with SAT's own audit window setting a practical 4-year minimum retention
Anexo de Precios de Transferencia filed with the annual ISR return, backed by a full Transfer Pricing Study, with SAT actively auditing recent-year filings and requesting comparables and financial statements in Excel
Monthly IGSS payroll filing (planilla) for any employer with 3 or more workers, with employee-level contribution deductions also recorded in the company's own accounting books, not just the IGSS system
Common Challenges
A single stale data field can silently break FEL issuance
If NIT, legal-representative, or fiscal-address data goes stale, or VAT affiliation or book habilitación lapses, FEL issuance stops working. This also blocks unrelated SAT procedures like obtaining a Solvencia Fiscal, needed for permits, bidding, and banking.
Three separate municipal fees are commonly confused as one
The municipal Licencia de Funcionamiento, the commercial patente, and the ornato arbitrium are three distinct, independently enforced obligations tied to wherever the entity has a physical presence, not a single municipal tax.
IGSS requires the same contribution data recorded twice
Employee-level social security deductions must be properly recorded in the company's own accounting books, not just filed through the IGSS system. This dual-bookkeeping point is a common reconciliation gap for foreign parents unfamiliar with the requirement.
How NavviPal Helps
Quarterly ISR advance payments and the annual sworn return handled on their SAT deadlines, under whichever regime fits the entity
FEL compliance maintained, including RTU, e-signature, and certifier status, so issuance never silently breaks
Transfer pricing annex and supporting study prepared for related-party transactions with the foreign parent
Monthly IGSS payroll filing and the matching employee-level records kept in the company's own books
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