Regulatory updates - Ecuador

The main changes:

• Issuance of invoices:
  • Transport operators must record the vehicle license plate used for the service in the "plate" field of the electronic invoice.
  • Transport operators must issue service invoices to customers only from the establishment set up for commercial land transport activity.
  • Partners or shareholders of commercial transport operators, except taxis, must issue proof of sale only to the operator they belong to and must not invoice customers directly.

• Update in the RUC: Partners or shareholders of transport operators involved in commercial land transport, except taxis, must be registered in the RUC and keep their registration updated under the applicable transport classification. Otherwise, the registration may be suspended ex officio.
• Registration of economic activity: commercial land transport operators need to be registered under the following economic activities and their respective ISIC codes:

• VAT rate: Under article 56, numeral 1 of the Internal Tax Regime Law (LRTI), national land transport and passenger and cargo services are taxed at a zero Value Added Tax (VAT) rate.
• Withholdings: the withholding tax will apply to payments for commercial land transport services, whether made by customers to operators or by operators to their partners or shareholders, when the payer is qualified as a withholding agent.

Implementation timelines:

From the date the resolution was published in the Official Gazette (July 13, 2026), these deadlines apply:

• Within 30 days: partners or shareholders who are already registered in the RUC and have not registered the registration number and the corporate name of the operator they belong to must update their RUC in person at a Tax Services Center of the SRI and present the current enabling title or its equivalent.
• Within 45 days: the SRI will update the new activity of the partners or shareholders of commercial transport operators that have an enabling title.
• Within 90 days: commercial land transport operators, except taxis, must adapt their systems to include the license plate requirement on the invoice.

The new Technical Sheet v. 2.33 adds in Annex 25 the numeral “2. License plate”, requiring license plate number of the vehicle involved in the provided transport service. The tag plate must be included in the XML, between the currency tags and payment methods for versions 1.0.0, 1.1.0, 2.0.0, and 2.1.0.

Values that should be reported in the “plate” field:

Implementation timeline:

The mandatory requirement of a license plate in the e-invoice must be implemented by the commercial land transport operators, except taxis, within 90 days from the official publication of Resolution NAC-DGERCGC26-00000024, which took place on July 13, 2026.

The SRI clarified the administrative criteria for the application of the existing 15% Value Added Tax (VAT) to certain digital services including: betting, sports predictions and other verticals linked to the igaming ecosystem, whether on a national or foreign platform. 

The responsibility for paying VAT falls depending on the way the service is processed: 

• If the platform is registered with the SRI or operates from Ecuador, it assumes the responsibility of collecting and declaring the tax. 

• If it is a foreign company without local registration, the bank or credit card retains the corresponding value at the time of payment. 

• If there is no financial intermediary, the obligation falls directly on the user, who must issue the corresponding settlement, declare and pay VAT on his or her own account. 

More information can be found in Circular No. NAC-DGERCGC 26-000000004.