In short: Guatemala’s income tax (ISR) is written around territory. Decreto 10-2012, Libro I, Art. 3: income “obtenidas en todo el territorio nacional” is subject to the tax. Art. 4 then lists what counts as Guatemalan-source income (“rentas de fuente guatemalteca”), for residents and non-residents alike. The list includes services provided in Guatemala and the export of services from Guatemala, salaries of resident employees, Guatemalan dividends, interest and rents, and property located in Guatemala. Below, each part is quoted in Spanish with a plain-English note.
This page quotes the law. It is not tax advice and gives no view on what you owe. Your facts (where the work is done, who pays you, where you are resident) decide the answer; take them to a Guatemalan contador público or to SAT.
Text used: SAT’s consolidated text of Decreto 10-2012 (it carries the later reforms and constitutional-case notes), checked against the Congress PDF as published in the Diario de Centro América on 5 March 2012. Both read 1 October 2026.
The three articles that make the rule
| Article | What it says (Spanish, verbatim) | Plain English |
|---|---|---|
| Art. 1, Objeto | “Se decreta un impuesto sobre toda renta que obtengan las personas individuales, jurídicas, entes o patrimonios que se especifiquen en este libro, sean éstos nacionales o extranjeros, residentes o no en el país.” | The tax applies to Guatemalans and foreigners, residents and non-residents. |
| Art. 3, Ámbito de aplicación | “Quedan afectas al impuesto las rentas obtenidas en todo el territorio nacional, definido éste conforme a lo establecido en la Constitución Política de la República de Guatemala.” | What is taxed is income obtained in Guatemala’s territory. |
| Art. 4, Rentas de fuente guatemalteca | “Son rentas de fuente guatemalteca, independientemente que estén gravadas o exentas, bajo cualquier categoría de renta, las siguientes:” | Art. 4 is the list of income the law treats as Guatemalan-source (whether taxed or exempt). |
Art. 2 sorts income into three categories: business activities (actividades lucrativas), work (trabajo) and capital. Art. 4 follows the same three headings.
What Art. 4 counts as Guatemalan-source income
1. Business and self-employed income (actividades lucrativas)
General rule: “Con carácter general, todas las rentas generadas dentro del territorio nacional, se disponga o no de establecimiento permanente desde el que se realice toda o parte de esa actividad.” All income generated inside the national territory, with or without a permanent establishment.
Three of the listed examples, quoted in full:
| Letter | Text (verbatim) | Note |
|---|---|---|
| c | “La prestación de servicios en Guatemala y la exportación de servicios desde Guatemala.” | Services provided in Guatemala, and services exported from Guatemala. |
| f | “Los servicios de asesoramiento jurídico, técnico, financiero, administrativo o de otra índole, utilizados en territorio nacional que se presten desde el exterior a toda persona individual o jurídica, ente o patrimonio residente en el país, así como a establecimientos permanentes de entidades no residentes.” | Advice provided from abroad but used in Guatemala by a Guatemalan resident. |
| k | “Los honorarios que se perciban por el ejercicio de profesiones, oficios y artes sin relación de dependencia.” | Professional fees earned without an employment relationship. |
The list also covers the production and sale of goods in Guatemala (letter a), the export of goods through agencies, branches, representatives or other intermediaries (b), transport and communications between Guatemala and other countries (d, e), public shows and performances in Guatemala (g), the production, distribution and trading in the country of films, recordings and similar media (h), subsidies paid to resident taxpayers (i), and directors’ and board fees paid by persons or entities resident in Guatemala (j).
2. Employment income (rentas del trabajo)
General rule: “Con carácter general, las provenientes de toda clase de contraprestación, retribución o ingreso, cualquiera sea su denominación o naturaleza, que deriven del trabajo personal prestado por un residente en relación de dependencia, desarrollado dentro de Guatemala o fuera de Guatemala.”
In plain terms: pay for personal work by a resident employee, whether the work is done inside or outside Guatemala. The article then gives examples (“Entre otras”), including:
- (a) “El trabajo realizado dentro o fuera de Guatemala por un residente en Guatemala, que sea retribuido por otro residente en Guatemala o un establecimiento permanente u organismo internacional que opere en Guatemala.” Work by a resident paid by another Guatemalan resident, a permanent establishment or an international body operating here.
- (b) “Las pensiones, jubilaciones y montepíos, por razón de un empleo realizado dentro del país, que pague o acredite a cualquier beneficiario un residente en Guatemala.” Pensions for employment carried out in Guatemala, paid by a Guatemalan resident.
- (c) Salaries and other pay that persons, the State, autonomous bodies, municipalities and other public or private entities pay their representatives, officials or employees “en Guatemala o en otros países”.
What the article does not spell out: the general rule speaks of a resident’s employment “dentro de Guatemala o fuera de Guatemala”; example (a) is about pay from a Guatemalan resident payer, and example (c) speaks of entities paying employees “en Guatemala o en otros países” without stating where the paying entity must be resident. No article we read names, in so many words, a Guatemalan tax resident paid by a foreign employer with no presence here. We do not fill that gap; it is the question to put to a contador or to SAT.
Status note on letter (b): SAT’s consolidated text records a provisional suspension of letter (b) under expediente 317-2013 on 19 February 2013, and that on 5 June 2014 the constitutional challenge was declared ‘sin lugar’ (dismissed) and the provisional suspension revoked. Per that note, the suspension no longer applies.
3. Capital income and capital gains (rentas de capital)
General rule, as reformed by Decreto 19-2013: “Con carácter general son rentas de fuente guatemalteca las derivadas del capital y de las ganancias de capital generadas en Guatemala, percibidas o devengadas en dinero o en especie, por residentes o no en el país.”
| Letter | Covers | Guatemala link in the text |
|---|---|---|
| a | Dividends and profit shares | From entities “residentes en Guatemala” or permanent establishments here |
| b | Interest (deposits, investments, loans, bonds) | Paid by residents or by permanent establishments “situados en el país” |
| c | Royalties | “pagadas o que se utilicen en Guatemala” |
| d | Income from movable and real property | “situados en Guatemala” |
| e | Capital gains | On shares and securities issued by residents, on other movable goods, or on rights performed or exercised in Guatemala |
| h | Gains on transferring property | “situados en territorio nacional” |
| i | Lottery and raffle prizes | Held in Guatemala |
Who is a Guatemalan tax resident (Art. 6)
A person is resident for tax purposes if either applies:
- (a) “Que permanezca en territorio nacional más de ciento ochenta y tres (183) días durante el año calendario, entendido éste como el período comprendido entre el uno (1) de enero al treinta y uno (31) de diciembre, aún cuando no sea de forma continua.” More than 183 days in a calendar year, counted in total.
- (b) “Que su centro de intereses económicos se ubique en Guatemala, salvo que el contribuyente acredite su residencia o domicilio fiscal en otro país, mediante el correspondiente certificado expedido por las autoridades tributarias de dicho país.” Centre of economic interests in Guatemala, unless you prove residence elsewhere with that country’s tax certificate.
Residence matters in the employment category: Art. 4.2 treats pay for a resident’s dependent work as Guatemalan-source whether the work is “desarrollado dentro de Guatemala o fuera de Guatemala”. In the capital category, letter (j) of Art. 4.3 also refers to the “contribuyente residente”.
What this page does not cover
- Rates and regimes. Which regime applies to Guatemalan-source income, and at what rate, is set elsewhere in Libro I. See the annual ISR return guide.
- Your home country’s tax. US citizens file on worldwide income regardless of where they live: see US taxes while working remotely from Guatemala and tax obligations when returning from the USA. Leaving another country’s tax net is covered for Australia and Canada.
- Getting a tax number. Banks, leases and SAT filings use the NIT: see how to get a NIT.
- The digital nomad residency is an immigration permit, not a tax rule: see IGM digital nomad residency.
Sources (read 1 October 2026)
- SAT, Decreto 10-2012, Ley de Actualización Tributaria, consolidated text with reform notes (portal.sat.gob.gt, legislación tributaria)
- Congreso de la República, Decreto 10-2012 as published in the Diario de Centro América, 5 March 2012 (congreso.gob.gt)
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Guatemala tax foreign income?
Guatemala’s income tax law ties the tax to territory. Decreto 10-2012 (Ley de Actualización Tributaria), Libro I, Art. 3: ‘Quedan afectas al impuesto las rentas obtenidas en todo el territorio nacional’ (income obtained anywhere in the national territory is subject to the tax). Art. 4 then defines what counts as Guatemalan-source income: a general rule for each category of income, followed by examples introduced with ‘Entre otras’ (among others), so the examples are not a closed list. Whether a specific income of yours falls inside the list is a question for a Guatemalan contador público or for SAT, not for this page.
Is Guatemala a territorial tax country?
The law reaches ’las rentas obtenidas en todo el territorio nacional’ (Art. 3) and defines Guatemalan-source income in Art. 4, whether the earner is resident or not (Art. 1 covers people ‘residentes o no en el país’). The articles themselves do not use the word ’territorial’; what they say is quoted on this page.
If I work remotely from Guatemala for foreign clients, is that Guatemalan-source income?
Art. 4, numeral 1, letter c lists as Guatemalan-source income ‘La prestación de servicios en Guatemala y la exportación de servicios desde Guatemala’ (services provided in Guatemala and the export of services from Guatemala). Letter k lists professional fees earned without an employment relationship. Art. 4 contains no exception for services sold to foreign clients. How SAT applies this to a particular freelancer is not answered in the articles we quote here.
Does Guatemala tax a foreign pension?
The pension line in Art. 4 (numeral 2, letter b) covers ‘Las pensiones, jubilaciones y montepíos, por razón de un empleo realizado dentro del país, que pague o acredite a cualquier beneficiario un residente en Guatemala’: pensions for employment carried out inside Guatemala, paid by a resident of Guatemala. Whether a pension outside that line is reached by any other part of the law is not answered by this letter. SAT’s consolidated text notes that the constitutional challenge to this letter was declared ‘sin lugar’ (dismissed) and its provisional suspension revoked on 5 June 2014.
When do I become a Guatemalan tax resident?
Art. 6: a person is resident if they stay in the national territory ‘más de ciento ochenta y tres (183) días durante el año calendario’ (more than 183 days in the calendar year), counted ‘aún cuando no sea de forma continua’ (even if not continuous), or if their centre of economic interests is in Guatemala, unless they prove tax residence in another country with a certificate from that country’s tax authority.
