Guatemala

Ease of Doing Business in

Guatemala

This page shows summary Doing Business 2012 data for Guatemala. The first table lists the overall "Ease of Doing Business" rank (out of 183 economies) and the rankings by each topic. The rest of the tables summarize the key indicators for each topic and benchmark against regional and high-income economy (OECD) averages.

Economy Overview

Region Latin America & Caribbean
Income Category Lower middle income
Population 14,376,881
GNI Per Capita (US$) 2,740.00
Doing Business 2012 Rank Doing Business 2011 Rank Change in Rank
97 93 down -4
Topic Rankings DB 2012 Rank DB 2011 Rank Change in Rank
Starting a Business 165 163 up -2
Dealing with Construction Permits 151 144 up -7
Getting Electricity 30 28 up -2
Registering Property 23 22 up -1
Getting Credit 8 8 No change
Protecting Investors 133 131 up -2
Paying Taxes 124 120 up -4
Trading Across Borders 119 121 up 2
Enforcing Contracts 97 99 up 2
Resolving Insolvency 101 99 up -2

Economy Profile

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Starting a Business

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The challenges of launching a business are shown below. Included are: the number of steps entrepreneurs can expect to go through to launch, the time it takes on average, and the cost and minimum capital required as a percentage of gross national income (GNI) per capita.

DB 2012 Rank 165 DB 2011 Rank 163 Change in Rank down-2
Indicator Guatemala Latin America & Caribbean OECD

The total number of procedures required to register a firm. A procedure is defined as any interaction of the company founders with external parties (for example, government agencies, lawyers, auditors or notaries).

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Procedures (number)
12 9 5

The total number of days required to register a firm. The measure captures the median duration that incorporation lawyers indicate is necessary to complete a procedure with minimum follow-up with government agencies and no extra payments.

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Time (days)
37 54 12

Cost is recorded as a percentage of the economy’s income per capita. It includes all official fees and fees for legal or professional services if such services are required by law.

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Cost (% of income per capita)
52.5 37.3 4.7

The amount that the entrepreneur needs to deposit in a bank or with a notary before registration and up to 3 months following incorporation and is recorded as a percentage of the economy’s income per capita.

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Paid-in Min. Capital (% of income per capita)
22.3 4.3 14.1
No. Procedure Time to Complete Associated Costs
1 Check the proposed company name at the Mercantile Registry of Guatemala 1 day no charge
2 Obtain letter from a Guatemalan notary public to open bank account 1 day no charge
3 Deposit the subscribed capital in a bank and obtain a receipt 1 day no charge
4 A notary public draws the deed of constitution 3 days GTQ 8,400 average notarial fees + tax
5 The notary buys the fiscal stamps and issues a certified copy of the deed of incorporation for filing with the commercial register 1 day GTQ 250 stamp tax (company deed), GTQ 300 (corporation license), 1 stamp at GTQ 100 (Appointment of legal representative, Certified notarial copy of the deed of incorporation)
6 File notarized unique registration form and documents with the Commercial Register (Registro Mercantil) 4 days GTQ 2000
7 Publication of notice in Diario de Centro América 8 days GTQ 525.62
8 Registration of the appointment of legal representative of the company 1 day included in previous procedure
9 Obtain the definitive registration, tax and social security numbers, and authorization to print invoices 14 days included in previous procedure
10 Application for trading license 1 day GTQ 165
* 11 Submit to the Commercial Registry for their authorisation, company accounting books and books of minutes of shareholder and board of directors meetings 1 day, simultaneous with preiovus procedure GTQ 0.15/page, assuming 100 pages
* 12 Application for book of salaries authorisation from the Inspection of the Department of Labour 1 day, simultaneous with preiovus procedure GTQ 0.5/page, assuming 100 pages
* Takes place simultaneously with another procedure.

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