Worldwide transfer pricing reference guide 2014

Guatemala
Taxing authority and tax law
Taxing authority: Tax Administration Superintendence (Superintendencia de Administración Tributaria or SAT).
Tax law: Tax Legislation Update Law (TLUL) Chapter VI, Articles 54 to 67 and Regulations of the TLUL, Chapter III, Articles 33 to 66.
Relevant regulations and rulings
Guatemala issued transfer pricing rules in 2012, which are included in the TLUL of the Congress Decree 10 — 2012. The rules are
effective from 1 January 2013 onward.
Guatemalan transfer pricing provisions are mainly based on the OECD Guidelines and apply to all the transactions conducted between
Guatemalan taxpayers and their related parties abroad. The transfer pricing rules also present an additional non-OECD method
(the import and export valuation method), which is intended to be used for transactions involving imports or exports of goods with
well-known prices in transparent markets.
Regulations to the Chapter VI of the TLUL were enacted in 2013. The main provision of these regulations is the filing obligation in the
form of a transfer pricing information return.
Regarding the tax year in which the transfer pricing obligations shall apply, the Government has been planning to change the regulations’
effective date that was initially as of 2013 and onward to tax year 2015 and onward. While the foregoing is so far not official, it is
however expected to be made public shortly. Nevertheless, it is also expected that the SAT will maintain their position that they have the
authority to request information relating to intercompany transactions for their databases.
OECD Guidelines treatment
Guatemala is not an OECD member, and there is no reference to the OECD Guidelines in the TLUL. In addition, since transfer pricing
regulations are new in Guatemala, there is no background on the treatment that is given to the OECD Guidelines.
Priorities/pricing methods
Acceptable transfer pricing methods are: CUP, Resale Price, Cost Plus, Profit Split, TNMM and the Imports and Exports Valuation
method. The CUP, Resale Price and Cost Plus methods take priority over the transactional methods.
Transfer pricing penalties
According to Article 66 of the Regulations to the TLUL, penalties for failure to comply with the transfer pricing obligations correspond to
the general tax penalties. Penalties for failure to present the transfer pricing documentation, upon request of the tax authority, would be
of GTQ5,000 for the first time, GTQ10,000 for the second time, and GTQ10,000 plus 1% of the taxpayer’s gross income from then on.
In addition, any additional tax generated by price adjustments made by the SAT is subject to surcharges and penalty interest.
Penalty relief
There are currently no provisions for reductions in penalties.
Documentation requirements
Contemporaneous transfer pricing documentation must be maintained. The documentation must include:
• Taxpayer corporate group information that affects the relationship with the taxpayer:
• General information regarding the corporate group’s legal and organizational structure
• Description of the intercompany transactions performed by the companies of the corporate group
• Description of the functions performed and risks assumed by the companies of the corporate group
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