Tax Evasion in Antigua Guatemala

Tax evaders in Guatemala take the risk of having their business shut down temporarily and have a sign like the above posted on their main entrance. To be able to open again a business has to pay back the taxes evaded and a fine to the Superintendencia de Administración Tributaria (SAT); this is the tax collecting agency in Guatemala. In the mean time, the business is marked with these shameful posters which basically are designed to embarrassed the owners and managers of said company.

What do you think of this procedure and posters?

8 Responses to "Tax Evasion in Antigua Guatemala"

Guillermo Estrada says:
January 22, 2012 at 1:40 am
How are this poor people able to pay now?!
Medieval is the best way to describe it, if you don’t know what happens in Guatemala.
Reply
1. Rudy says:
  January 23, 2012 at 1:08 pm
  If it’s a business, which place was, they should pay their fair share of taxes. I mean, they are collecting the IVA from their clients, they should give those taxes back to the SAT.
  Reply
  1. Guillermo Estrada says:
    January 24, 2012 at 9:30 pm
    There are basic rights every human deserve, in Guatemala people are judged and punished even before a court of law have convicted them. Penalties apply, that is fair. But to deny a person the right to make a living is feudal and more so when small business are the ones punished.
    Reply
Kwallelno says:
January 22, 2012 at 10:58 am
My uncle went to jail here in Ohio for not paying his taxes, a little shut down and a poster at the door seems like small beer.
Reply
1. Rudy says:
  January 23, 2012 at 12:54 pm
  Kwallelno, thanks for sharing the story, I guess they are much more harder on tax evaders in the U.S. than in Guatemala. Also, I believe they collect much more taxes there as well.
  Reply
Eric says:
January 22, 2012 at 12:55 pm
I have only seen this here in my corner twice, maybe three times. Same procedure, as far as I know…sticker on the door, fines, back taxes, etc. Typically, for the bigger businesses, their lawyers prevent any lasting damages or enormous fines. Maybe we would have more small businesses here if the owners did not need to secure legal help first….?
Reply
1. Rudy says:
  January 23, 2012 at 12:53 pm
  Wow, I didn’t know they do the same in your neck of the woods. Thanks for sharing.
  Reply
Pam Glover says:
October 20, 2013 at 9:47 am
All of us have to pay taxes inthe US, unless you are very poor or very wealthy–which is definitely unjust.
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Tax Evasion in Antigua Guatemala

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