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Guatemala VAT registration threshold

Guatemala VAT registration threshold: no single figure applies. The reason is set out below, cited to the governing instrument. Last checked against the official source on 26 Aug 2026.

Official source: Ley del Impuesto al Valor Agregado, Decreto N° 27-92 del Congreso (tarifa 12%, art. 10): liability attaches · Last checked 2026-08-26 · source fingerprint

The turnover at which VAT (IVA) registration becomes compulsory in Guatemala, with the period the test runs over, the rule for non-established suppliers, and any separate treatment of imported digital services.

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Current valueno single figure
In force from—
Official sourceLey del Impuesto al Valor Agregado, Decreto N° 27-92 del Congreso (tarifa 12%, art. 10): liability attaches by act (art. 3 — sales, services, imports) with no registration turnover floor. Near-threshold: Régimen de Pequeño Contribuyente, arts. 45-51; art. 45 as reformed by art. 15 of Decreto N° 31-2024 'Ley para la Integración del Sector Productivo Primario y Agropecuario' (published 9 Dec 2024, in force 9 Apr 2025) raises the opt-in ceiling from Q150,000 to 125 salarios mínimos mensuales vigentes para el sector no agrícola, sin incluir la bonificación incentivo ('125 monthly minimum wages in force for the non-agricultural sector, excluding the incentive bonus') of annual turnover — Q465,381.25 for 2025 (125 × Q3,723.05).
Last verified2026-08-26
Verificationprimary — No verification limitation recorded — read from the official source cited.
The gazette text of Decreto 31-2024 art. 15 could not be retrieved verbatim (official PDFs unreachable to automated fetch). The '125 salarios mínimos no agrícolas sin bonificación incentivo' formulation, the 9 Apr 2025 entry into force, and the 2025 value Q465,381.25 are concordant across SAT-derived FAQ coverage, Prensa Libre, Consortium Legal, Lexology and Vesco Consultores. The 2026 value Q500,285.00 is this record's computation from Acuerdo Gubernativo 256-2025 (CE1 Q4,002.28), not yet confirmed against an SAT publication.
Provenancesource fingerprint

What this value means

REFUSAL: Guatemala has NO VAT registration threshold. Anyone performing taxed acts must register with the SAT (Registro Tributario Unificado) and charge 12% IVA from the first sale. The Pequeño Contribuyente ceiling is an ELECTIVE alternative-liquidation boundary, not a registration threshold — small taxpayers are still SAT-registered, still invoice (FEL electronic invoicing), and still pay a tax on every sale. PERIOD BASIS (near-threshold): turnover in a CALENDAR year. Since 9 Apr 2025 the ceiling is INDEXED: 125 × the monthly non-agricultural minimum wage excluding the bonificación incentivo (Q250). 2025: Q465,381.25 (125 × Q3,723.05). 2026: computes to Q500,285.00 using Acuerdo Gubernativo 256-2025 (CE1 non-agricultural Q4,002.28/month from 1 Jan 2026) — verify SAT's published figure; the statute does not say which circunscripción económica (CE1, departamento de Guatemala, vs the lower CE2) governs, and 2025 practice used CE1. NEAR-THRESHOLD MECHANICS: within the ceiling a taxpayer may opt into the Régimen de Pequeño Contribuyente and pay 5% on gross monthly income (art. 47) INSTEAD of the 12% debit/credit IVA, declared monthly; the 5% also stands in for income-tax obligations in practice. Buyer-side cost: pequeño-contribuyente invoices generate NO crédito fiscal for the customer — which is why B2B suppliers often stay in the general regime despite qualifying. Decreto 7-2019 (Ley de Simplificación) added the electronic small-taxpayer variant and the Régimen Especial de Contribuyente Agropecuario (5% monthly on gross sales for primary-sector producers, with its own ceiling, integrated/adjusted by Decreto 31-2024). Exceeding the ceiling obliges migration to the general regime; SAT may reclassify ex officio. NON-ESTABLISHED SUPPLIERS: no threshold and no non-resident registration regime. Imported goods bear IVA at customs regardless of size; there is no general reverse-charge collection on services supplied from abroad to Guatemalan customers. IMPORTED DIGITAL SERVICES: NONE — Guatemala has NOT enacted a non-resident digital-services VAT regime (unlike Ecuador, Paraguay or Costa Rica). Draft proposals to tax foreign platforms have circulated but were not law as of Aug 2026; treat any claimed withholding on Netflix-type supplies as unenacted. Traps: (1) The famous Q150,000 figure died on 9 Apr 2025 — most secondary sources still carry it. (2) The ceiling now moves with every minimum-wage acuerdo (issued each December, effective 1 Jan), so recompute annually — do not carry Q465,381.25 into 2026. (3) Some 2025 coverage misprints Q456,381.25; the arithmetic (125 × 3,723.05) gives Q465,381.25. (4) Two minimum-wage circunscripciones exist since 2023 — watch which wage SAT applies each year. (5) The 5% is on GROSS income with no deductions and no input credit; comparing it to 12% output-minus-input IVA requires margin math, not rate comparison.

Get it programmatically

curl https://latamref.dev/v1/gt/vat-registration-threshold
# $0.005 per call — x402 on Base (USDC). No key, no signup.
# History:    curl https://latamref.dev/v1/gt/vat-registration-threshold/history?from=2020-01-01
# Provenance: curl https://latamref.dev/provenance/gt/vat-registration-threshold

Other Guatemala series: Banguat tasa de interés líder de política monetaria · IVA standard rate · Minimum wage (lowest rate in the activity x circumscription matrix) · Public holidays · CPI inflation (year-on-year) · Corporate income tax rate · Withholding tax rates · Statutory legal interest (interés legal) · Personal income tax brackets · Statutory social-insurance contributions

The same figure elsewhere: Guyana · Honduras · Jamaica · Mexico · Nicaragua · all 22