Investing in Guatemala

The legal framework

What Guatemalan law grants foreign investors

National treatment

Decree 9-98 has been in force since 1998 and rests on Article 119 of the Constitution, which makes it a duty of the State to protect capital formation and create conditions for both domestic and foreign investment.

In practice, national treatment means a foreign shareholder is not subject to a separate, more burdensome regime. The same corporate forms, the same Commercial Registry, the same tax rules.

Territorial restrictions you should know before buying land

This is where foreign investors most often get surprised, and it is constitutional rather than regulatory, which makes it firm.

• Article 123 — border strips. Property within a 15-kilometre strip along the national borders may only be owned or held by Guatemalans by origin, or by companies whose members hold that same status. Urban property and rights registered before 1 March 1956 are excepted.
• Article 122 — state territorial reserves. The State reserves a 3-kilometre strip along the oceans measured from the high-tide line, 200 metres around lake shores, 100 metres on each side of navigable riverbanks and 50 metres around springs.

Outside those areas, foreign nationals may generally own real estate. The practical takeaway is simple: verify the location and the registry status of a property before signing anything. We cover this in detail in our guide on property ownership for foreigners.

Beneficial ownership reporting

A reform effective September 2026 requires every Guatemalan share-capital company to report its shareholders, and their beneficial owners, to the Commercial Registry. It applies regardless of sector or company size, and reporting is ongoing rather than one-off.

For an investor structuring through holding companies, this should be planned before incorporation. Detailed guides are published in Spanish: Decreto 15-2026.

Sector-specific rules

Certain regulated activities have their own requirements, and these change over time. Rather than list them here, we verify them for each project before you commit capital. If your investment falls in a regulated sector, that verification should be the first step, not an afterthought.

Taxation

How companies are taxed in Guatemala

The territorial principle

This is the first thing most foreign investors want confirmed, and it is favourable: Guatemala taxes income from Guatemalan sources. Income earned abroad by a Guatemalan company is generally outside the scope of Guatemalan income tax.

The counterpart is that Guatemala does not generally grant relief for foreign taxes paid, and its double taxation treaty network is very limited. If your home country taxes worldwide income, the interaction between both systems should be modelled before you structure the investment, not after.

Two corporate income tax regimes

Under the Income Tax Law (Decree 10-2012), a company elects one of two regimes. The choice is not cosmetic: it can change the effective tax burden substantially.

The practical rule of thumb used locally: the break-even point sits at a profit margin of roughly 25% of revenue. Above that, the simplified regime tends to be cheaper; below it, particularly for high-volume, thin-margin businesses such as distribution, the profits regime usually wins.

The regime can be changed, but not at will: notice must be given to the tax authority in November, taking effect from 1 January of the following year.

The other taxes you will meet

The solidarity tax, explained

The ISO surprises investors who read only the headline income tax rate. It applies to companies under the profits regime whose gross margin exceeds 4% of gross income, at 1% of the greater of a quarter of net assets or a quarter of gross income.

It is creditable against income tax, so a profitable company generally absorbs no net cost. A company that reports losses year after year, however, does pay it. That is the design of the tax, and it is worth factoring into projections for a start-up phase.

Companies under the simplified regime are exempt from ISO. Newly incorporated companies are exempt during their first four quarters.

Special regimes

Guatemala maintains free zone and export-oriented regimes offering fiscal treatment different from the general rules, subject to qualifying conditions on activity, location and operation. Whether your project qualifies is a technical question worth resolving early, since it can change the economics of the investment materially.