On 25 March 2020, Guatemala has approved Decree 12-2020 on “Emergency Law to Protect Guatemalans from the effects caused by the COVID-19 pandemic”. The Decree establishes initial sanitary, economic, financial and social measures necessary to address the crisis derived from the measures adopted within the national territory to contain and mitigate the effects of the pandemic. These mechanisms are aimed at protecting the inhabitants of the country, emphasizing the most vulnerable population.
Tax measures of the Decree are as following:
- Taxpayers may defer the payment corresponding to the second quarter of the fiscal year 2020 and may make such payment until 30 September 2020 in certain condition;
- exemption from value-added tax (VAT) and customs duties for all specified import during the disaster and its possible extensions;
- The computation of legal terms in all types of administrative processes is suspended for the non-extendable term of three months. Exceptions are those calculations of constitutional terms, those related to the Law of Access to Public Information, as well as the processes that guarantee food payments, minimum guarantees and those that are to guarantee the rights of the inhabitants within the framework of the pandemic.
