Selling Tortillas on the Streets

Buying tortillas on the street

The informal economy is the basis for making a living for most Guatemalans. That is why you have shoe-shining boys, orchids sellers, furniture sellers, textiles sellers, handicrafts sellers, vehicle watchers, ice cream handcarts sellers, market merchants and a very long et-cetera. As matter of fact, Guatemala’s SAT, IRS equivalent, has a tough time collecting the minimum tax required which is 12% of the Gross National Product. By the way, 12% is Guatemala’s sale tax and most people that do pay taxes are under a 5% income tax. The biggest problem with a poor tax collection system is that there are little social security benefits for the majority of the population. Things like health care, retirement plans, unemployment insurance, accident and death insurance are nonexistent or cover so little that the for the effect is the same. I know this is touchy subject for most people up-north, especially Canada and Europe, but believe it, paying taxes is what makes the difference.

For the next few days, please pull out your sunglasses because Antigua Guatemala Daily Photo will have an avalanche of rich and saturated colors for you. Come back to see a continuation of Guatemala’s Color Palette.

© 2007 – 2020, Rudy Giron. All rights reserved.

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