LLC × residence calculator · Edition 2026.09

If you lived in Guatemala: how much tax you would pay on your LLC profit

Guatemala is purely territorial (Decree 10-2012, art. 4): only Guatemalan-source income is taxed. But art. 4 also defines as Guatemalan-source «the rendering of services in Guatemala and the export of services from Guatemala»: if you work physically from the country for foreign clients, the tax authority can treat that as local income even though the LLC is in the US.

Isaac Cubero · Checked on 14 September 2026 · territorial

At $100,000 of profit

You would pay
$0
Effective rate
0%
You would keep
$100,000

On $100,000 of LLC profit, living in Guatemala, you would pay $0 income tax (territorial regime), with conditions.

territorial

Tax on foreign-source income (not taxed)$0
Estimated total$0

Sources: Decree 10-2012, Tax Update Law, art. 4 (Guatemalan-source income) and arts. 44 and 72 (profit-based regime and simplified regime) · Decree 10-2012, art. 84 (capital income) and art. 93 (5% rate on dividends) · SAT Guatemala, official statement: dividends paid by companies domiciled abroad are not subject to ISR withholding · Fixed exchange rate 7.64 GTQ/USD.

Rank 1 of 38 residences by effective rate at this profit.

What we assume
  • Service rendered and contracted outside Guatemala: the 0% on the ladder requires that, not just a foreign client.
  • Local company under the profit-based regime (25%), the option with expense deductions; a simplified alternative exists (5% up to GTQ 30,000 monthly, 7% on the excess, on gross revenue).
  • No VAT, no municipal levies.
What can change it
  • Source is defined by where the service is rendered, not by the client's nationality or the LLC's location: working from a laptop in Antigua or Guatemala City for US clients can be enough for the SAT to treat the income as Guatemalan-source.
  • If the income is deemed Guatemalan-source, it is taxed at 5%/7% (simplified regime on gross revenue) or 25% (profit-based regime), at the taxpayer's choice.
  • Guatemala has few double-taxation treaties and no automatic information exchange like CRS: traceability depends on other mechanisms.
Sources
  • Decree 10-2012, Tax Update Law, art. 4 (Guatemalan-source income) and arts. 44 and 72 (profit-based regime and simplified regime)
  • Decree 10-2012, art. 84 (capital income) and art. 93 (5% rate on dividends)
  • SAT Guatemala, official statement: dividends paid by companies domiciled abroad are not subject to ISR withholding
  • Fixed exchange rate 7.64 GTQ/USD.

At three profit levels

What you would pay in Guatemala depending on what your LLC earns.

Annual profitEstimated taxEffective rateYou would keep
$50,000$00%$50,000
$100,000$00%$100,000
$250,000$00%$250,000

And if it were not an LLC

The five cheapest structures from Guatemala, distributing all the profit.

StructureCorporateWithholdingYou, in GuatemalaTotal
US LLC$0$0$00%$0
UAE free zone$0$0$00%$0
Hong Kong Ltd$8,250$0$08.3%$8,250
Bulgarian EOOD$10,000$4,500$014.5%$14,500
Cyprus Ltd$15,000$0$015%$15,000

Compare all nine structures from Guatemala

Frequently asked questions

Does a US LLC pay tax if I live in Guatemala?

The LLC pays no US federal tax if it has no US activity. Guatemala is purely territorial (Decree 10-2012, art. 4): only Guatemalan-source income is taxed. But art. 4 also defines as Guatemalan-source «the rendering of services in Guatemala and the export of services from Guatemala»: if you work physically from the country for foreign clients, the tax authority can treat that as local income even though the LLC is in the US.

How much would I pay in Guatemala on $100,000 of profit?

On $100,000 of LLC profit, living in Guatemala, you would pay $0 income tax (territorial regime), with conditions. Source is defined by where the service is rendered, not by the client's nationality or the LLC's location: working from a laptop in Antigua or Guatemala City for US clients can be enough for the SAT to treat the income as Guatemalan-source.

Is Guatemala a territorial country?

Yes: it only taxes local-source income. The profit of an LLC operated from abroad is not taxed, provided the work is rendered outside Guatemala.

Next

The figure is the start. The structure is the decision.

To see Guatemala against the other 37 residences: the full ladder.