Título IV Capítulo IV. Deberes formales de los contribuyentes y responsables

Taxpayers and liable persons are obligated to facilitate the determination, collection, audit and investigation tasks carried out by the Tax Administration and in particular they shall:

1.When the laws so establish:

a)Keep the books and records relating to the activities and operations linked to taxation.

b)Register in the respective registries, providing the necessary data and documents and communicating any modifications thereof.

c)File the applicable returns and formulate the extensions or clarifications requested of them.

d)Comply with any other formal duty established by the respective legal provisions.

2.Repealed.

3.Facilitate for the authorized fiscal public officials the inspections or verifications in any premises, commercial or industrial establishments, offices, warehouses, containers, cash registers and files, as well as trucks, tanks, vessels, aircraft and other means of transport.

4.Allow the Tax Administration to review the returns, reports and documents, merchandise receipts, related to events giving rise to tax obligations.

5.Communicate any change in the tax situation of taxpayers or liable persons.

6.Appear at the tax offices when their presence is required, provided that the summons states the purpose of the proceeding.

7.Provide to the Tax Administration the information it requests regarding acts, contracts or other facts or commercial relations with third parties, generating taxes, provided that the guarantee of confidentiality established in the Political Constitution of the Republic and special laws, professional secrecy, and the provisions of this Code are not violated.

The following are also obligations of taxpayers and liable persons:

1.To keep in an orderly manner, until the limitation period has elapsed, the taxpayer's books, documents and files, bank account statements or computer systems, which relate to their economic and financial activities, in order to establish the tax base of the taxes and to verify payment of their tax obligations.

2.To keep, for the limitation period, the documents evidencing compliance with their tax obligations.

3.Taxable persons authorized to file returns, annexes and information by electronic means or by means other than paper shall keep them for the same time limit in the means in which they were filed or on paper, at their election.

4.To reconstruct their accounting records, in cases of destruction, loss, deterioration, misplacement, or crimes against property occurring with respect to books, records, documents, files or computer systems, within a time limit of three months counted from the date on which the event occurred, a circumstance that must be evidenced.

5.To allow the Tax Administration to review the computerized records containing information related to the carrying out of events giving rise to taxes or to the recording of their accounting and tax operations, whether online or for a specific period of time established by the Tax Administration, for exclusive purposes linked to proper tax auditing; for such purpose, the Tax Administration shall formulate the relevant request.

6.Taxpayers, liable persons or exempt persons providing medical care services through hospitals, sanatoriums, health houses, clinics, medical offices or health centers, that receive payments from third parties for the benefit of physicians or other professionals, whether or not they are health technicians, corresponding to services provided on their premises to third parties and whose services have not been invoiced by the aforementioned hospitals, companies, institutions or organizations, shall inform the Tax Administration by means of a sworn statement, by document or electronically, in the form and manner provided for such purpose by the Tax Administration, within the first ten (10) working days of the month following that in which payment was received from a third party for the benefit of the aforementioned technicians, professionals, physicians or others. For such purpose, the Tax Identification Number and the full name of the physician, professional or technician shall be indicated, as well as the invoice number issued by the aforementioned persons. Taxpayers or liable persons shall have the same obligation with respect to services provided by the professionals or technicians referred to above.

Those obligated to fulfill the formal duties of collective entities are:

1.In the case of legal persons, the legal representatives with authority to do so.

2.In the case of the taxpayers referred to in Article 22 of this Code, the liable persons listed therein.

The tax domicile shall be deemed to be the place designated by the taxpayer or liable party to receive summonses, notifications and other correspondence sent thereto, for the obligors to exercise the rights derived from their relations with the tax authority and for the latter to require them to comply with tax laws. Failing such designation, the provisions of Articles 115 and 116 of this Code shall apply.

For individuals, the tax domicile in the Republic of Guatemala shall be deemed to be the following, in the following order:

1.The one expressly designated as such in writing by the taxpayer or liable person before the Tax Administration.

2.The one indicated by the taxpayer or liable person in the relevant filing or proceeding, or the one stated in the last return of the respective tax.

3.The place of their residence, this being presumed when their last stay in such place is longer than one year.

4.The place where they carry out their principal civil or commercial activities, if their residence is unknown or there is difficulty in determining it.

5.If the taxpayer or liable person resides alternately or has habitual occupations in several places, within or outside the country, the one indicated by them at the request of the Tax Administration. If they do not indicate it within the time limit of ten (10) working days, the one chosen by the Tax Administration.

6.When it is not possible to determine their domicile pursuant to the preceding paragraphs, the place where the taxpayer or liable person is located, where the transactions are concluded, where the activities are carried out, or where the property subject to the tax is located or the taxable event of the tax obligation occurs.

The domicile of legal persons for tax purposes shall be deemed to be that indicated in the following order:

1.That expressly indicated in writing by the legal representative of the entity, for purposes of registration with the Tax Administration.

2.That indicated by the legal representative, in the filing or proceeding in question, or that appearing in the last return of the respective tax.

3.That designated in the constitutive deed or in the bylaws.

4.The place where it has its administration or its central offices.

5.The place where the principal center of its activity is located, in case the place of its administration and central offices is not known.

6.In case more than one domicile exists, that indicated upon requirement by the Tax Administration. If it is not indicated within the time limit of ten (10) working days, that chosen by the Tax Administration.

7.When it is not possible to determine the domicile under the preceding items, the place where the operations are conducted, the activities are carried out or the property subject to the tax is located or the taxable event of the tax obligation occurs.

Persons who hold official positions abroad and who receive remuneration for personal services from the State, its bodies, decentralized or autonomous entities, shall be considered for tax purposes as domiciled in the country, and their domicile shall be deemed to be that indicated in the following order:

1.That indicated in subsection 1 of Article 115 of this Code.

2.That of their legal representative, duly empowered and accredited before the Tax Administration.

3.The place where they perform the official position.

Taxpayers and responsible persons domiciled abroad shall establish a tax domicile in Guatemala, and the following rules shall be applicable to them:

1.If they have a permanent establishment in Guatemala, the provisions of Articles 115 and 116 of this Code, insofar as applicable.

2.In the other cases, they shall have the domicile of their representative. In the absence of a representative, they shall have as domicile the place where they enter into the transactions, the activities are carried out or the property subject to the tax is located or the taxable event giving rise to the tax obligation occurs.

Taxpayers or responsible parties shall give written notice to the Tax Administration of the change of their fiscal domicile, in person or through a duly authorized third party. The duplicate of such notice, bearing the receipt stamp, shall be proof of such information.

Notice of the change of domicile shall be given within the time limit of thirty (30) days, counted from the date on which such change occurs. While the change is not notified, the Tax Administration shall continue notifying at the domicile indicated by the taxpayer or responsible party. If this is not possible, the Tax Administration on its own initiative shall proceed in accordance with the provisions of articles 115 and 116 of this Code.

All taxpayers and liable persons are obliged to register with the Tax Administration before initiating activities subject to tax.

For such purpose, they must file an application by means of a paper or electronic form or by other suitable means as established, which shall contain at a minimum the following:

a)Full given names and surnames of the natural person;

b)Name or corporate name of the legal person, as applicable;

c)Name of the taxpayers referred to in Article 22 of this Code;

d)Trade name, if any;

e)Full given names and surnames of the legal representative of the legal person or of the taxpayers referred to in Article 22 of this Code and of the persons who, pursuant to the instrument of incorporation or amendments thereto, have the status of administrators, managers or agents under a mandate of such persons and a copy of the document evidencing representation, duly registered with the corresponding registers, where applicable;

f)Tax domicile;

g)Principal economic activity;

h)Date of commencement of activities subject to tax;

i)Registration under each of the taxes to which they are subject;

j)If it is a foreign legal person, it must be specified whether it acts as an agency, branch or any other form of operation.

Where those obliged fail to register, the Tax Administration may register them on its own initiative under the regimes for the taxes corresponding to their characteristics, without prejudice to imposing the corresponding sanctions.

The Tax Administration shall assign to the taxpayer a Tax Identification Number -NIT-, which must be stated in every action carried out before it and in invoices or any other document issued in accordance with the tax laws.

Said Administration, in coordination with the entities in charge of the register of natural persons, shall establish the administrative procedures so that the assignment of the Tax Identification Number -NIT- and the issuance of the respective certificate to natural persons are carried out simultaneously with the delivery of the Cédula de Vecindad or the Personal Identification Document and the Unique Identification Code.

It shall also coordinate with the entities in charge of the register of legal persons the administrative procedures so that the assignment of the Tax Identification Number -NIT- and the issuance of the respective certificate to legal persons are carried out simultaneously with the corresponding registration, and said registers shall refrain from registering any legal person to which a Tax Identification Number has not been assigned.

Any amendment to registration data must be reported to the Tax Administration within the time limit of thirty (30) days following its occurrence. Likewise, within the same time limit, counted from the expiry of the filing of the last applicable return, notice shall be given of the definitive or temporary cessation of the respective activity, for the corresponding entries.

A natural person who ceases to be the legal representative of a legal person may give notice to the Tax Administration of such fact, evidencing it with the certification issued by the corresponding register.

Temporary cessation shall occur when the taxpayer or liable person, for the time limit indicated by them, states that they will not carry out economic activities. Definitive cessation shall be understood when the taxpayer or liable person does not continue with the economic activities in which they had registered.

The Mercantile Register shall not authorize the dissolution of commercial companies that do not prove they are solvent before the Tax Administration.

For those taxpayers who are delinquent in payment of the Value Added Tax or who cannot be located at their tax domicile, the Tax Administration may suspend their affiliation with the regime for said tax and shall make the special entry in the tax registers of the taxpayer or liable person.

Taxpayers or liable persons shall annually update or confirm their registration data by the means that the Tax Administration makes available to them. The information submitted by the taxpayer or liable person must also contain the update of their principal economic activity or activities, which shall be those that in the corresponding tax period have reported more than fifty percent (50%) of income to the taxpayer.

*No grounds for provisional suspension of Article 49 eleventh paragraph of Decree 4-2012, which amended Article 120 of Decree 6-91, under file 292-2013

*Provisional suspension of Article 50 of Decree 4-2012 which added Article 120 "A" to Decree 6-91 under File Number 292-2013 on 23-04-2013