VAT withholding: 65 % / 15 % (exporters), 25 % (public sector), 15 % (card operators and special taxpayers) — Decreto 20-2006

Decreto 20-2006 (Legal Provisions to Strengthen the Tax Administration). Art. 1: habitual exporters averaging Q100,000 or more of monthly exports, once SAT activates them as withholding agents, withhold 65 % of the VAT when buying agricultural and livestock products in the form they will be exported (coffee except roasted or soluble, unrefined sugar, bananas, cardamom, cane, cotton, milk and others) and 15 % on other purchases and services; companies qualified under Decreto 29-89 (maquila) withhold 65 % on all purchases; the amounts withheld are offset against their refundable tax credit and any balance due is paid within 15 working days. Art. 2: state bodies and decentralised and autonomous entities (not municipalities) withhold 25 % on purchases of Q30,000 or more. Art. 3: credit and debit card operators withhold 15 % from affiliated merchants. Art. 5: special taxpayers withhold 15 % from their suppliers; amounts withheld are paid over within the first 15 working days of the following month against a pre-numbered certificate. Art. 11: the supplier deducts what was withheld from the period's tax and carries any remainder forward; after two consecutive years with an uncompensated remainder it may ask SAT for a special bank account to pay other taxes with it.

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