On October 2, 2025, through Executive Decree No. 172, the president of the Republic, Daniel Noboa, ordered the suspension of the workday corresponding to Thursday, October 9, 2025, for both the public and private sectors. Consequently, the national holiday for Guayaquil Independence Day will extend from October 9 to October 12, 2025.
The workday will not be recoverable.
Within the current regulatory framework, specific provisions have been incorporated that directly affect the rights and benefits applicable to people with disabilities, their substitutes, and caregivers, as well as those facing rare, orphan, catastrophic, or complex diseases. These reforms cover key aspects related to access to services, labor, education, and health benefits. We highlight the following:
The Law introduces a new category of disability not regulated in the previous statute, namely psychosocial impairments.
Previously, applicable regulations determined that the rights of people with disabilities depended on their disability percentage. However, the current law eliminated this classification system, proposing instead that disability be categorized as mild, moderate, severe, very severe, and complete.
Parents and legal representatives of minors with any type and percentage of disability are also considered direct substitutes.
Certification of Direct Substitutes:
Caregivers assume responsibility for assisting people with disabilities who, to varying degrees, require support in carrying out daily life activities.
This role confers rights distinct from those of substitutes, and caregivers are not included within the inclusion quota.
To fully comply with the quota, employers must apply principles of gender equity and disability diversity, and where operations exist in multiple provinces, distribute included personnel equitably.
Noncompliance may result in monetary sanctions of 11 to 15 unified basic salaries or the suspension of activities for up to thirty days.
Part-time employment is permitted only with medical certification confirming the impossibility of full-time work.
13. Income Tax Deduction: employers may deduct an additional 150% of all remunerations and benefits contributed to social security (IESS) with respect to disabled employees and substitutes exceeding the mandatory inclusion quota.
14. Tax Exempt from Vehicle Imports: In the case of used vehicles, the model must correspond to the last three years prior to importation, (between the model year and the year of shipment).
The beneficiary may access a new tax-exempt importation five years after the Customs Import Declaration has been cleared.
15. Local Purchase of Exempt Vehicles: local purchase must be authorized by the Internal Revenue Service within a maximum period of 30 days from the submission of the application. Only new vehicles will be exempt from local taxes. The beneficiary may access a new exemption five years after the local purchase.
If it is determined that the conditions for benefiting from the exemption on local vehicle purchases were not met, the Internal Revenue Service will recalculate the tax for the total amount of the exempted values plus the respective interest.
16. Exceptional Transfer Clause: if the person with a disability benefiting from the tax exemption is unable to fulfill their financial obligation to the seller of the vehicle due to an emerging personal economic crisis, they may request the transfer of the vehicle within one year from the date of importation or acquisition.
To this end, the person with a disability or the person interested in acquiring the vehicle, duly authorized by the beneficiary of the exemption, may request the transfer of ownership of the vehicle from the customs or tax authority, as appropriate, and pay the proportional part of the taxes remaining to complete the five-year period, calculated from the date of submission of the transfer request.
To this end, the person with a disability must, by means of a sworn statement before a notary public, justify the reasons for their emerging financial hardship; they will be prevented from benefiting from this exemption again until five years have elapsed from the date of release of the import or acquisition, as applicable.
17. Use of Exempt Vehicles: vehicles imported or purchased locally with tax exemption must be driven by the person with a disability who is the beneficiary of the exemption. Extraordinarily, and depending on the condition of the person with a disability, the vehicle may be driven by:
**Legal References:
Through Interministerial Agreement No. 2025-013, issued by the Ministry of Production, Foreign Trade, Investments and Fisheries together with the Ministry of Tourism, it has been ordered:
Reason for the suspension:
This measure is adopted as part of the merger by absorption of the Ministry of Tourism into the Ministry of Production, Foreign Trade, Investments and Fisheries, in order to ensure a proper administrative transition and guarantee due process in tax and collection procedures.
Summary of the fees:
Update of asset thresholds for entities subject to the supervision of the Superintendence of Companies, Securities and Insurance, requiring their annual financial statements to be submitted to mandatory external audit.
Supplement No. 118 of the Official Register, dated September 5, 2025, published Resolution No. SCVS-INC-DNCDN-2025-0005 of August 27, 2025, issued by the Superintendence of Companies, Securities and Insurance, which, for the purposes of external audit, the amounts that were previously expressed in United States dollars have been replaced with values equivalent to a specific number of minimum wages. In this manner, the thresholds applicable to the assets of domestic entities, as well as branches of foreign corporations or other foreign companies organized as legal entities, shall be adjusted automatically on an annual basis.
Under these amendments, the following entities are required to submit their annual financial statements to external audit review:
For purposes of the Regulation on External Audit, “assets” shall mean the total assets recorded in the statement of financial position submitted by the respective company to the Superintendence of Companies, Securities and Insurance in the prior fiscal year.
These amendments shall apply from the statement of financial position corresponding to the fiscal year 2025.
In the Third Supplement to the Official Registry No. 112 of August 28, 2025, the Organic Law on Social Transparency was published.
The Fifth Amending Provision modifies the Mining Law (the “Law”) as follows:
Exploration Stage of the Mining Concession
Before the expiration of the initial exploration period, if the concessionaire wishes to continue mining exploration activities, it must request approval from the Sectoral Ministry to transition to the advanced exploration period for a term of four years. This request must include: an express waiver of part of the concession area; and evidence of compliance with the minimum activities and investments required during the initial exploration period.
For concessions obtained through auction or tender, the concessionaire must also demonstrate compliance with:
If the Sectoral Ministry fails to issue the corresponding resolution within sixty (60) days from the approval of the request, advanced exploration shall be deemed authorized.
Caducity of Mining Rights
In the administrative process for the caducity of a mining concession due to any of the causes established in the Law, the timeframe for the concessionaire to prove compliance with its obligations, submit defenses, and provide supporting evidence is reduced from forty-five (45) to fifteen (15) days.
If an administrative resolution determines that obligations remain outstanding, the concessionaire will have fifteen (15) days (previously forty-five) to remedy the non-compliance. Failure to do so within this period will result in the Sectoral Ministry declaring the forfeiture of mining rights through a reasoned resolution.
Caducity of mining rights shall also be declared automatically, without the need for further administrative proceedings, if the environmental authority has determined and notified the existence of environmental damage.
New Cause of Caducity for Non-Payment
Within the grounds of caducity due to non-payment of fees, royalties, and other rights or taxes established under this Law and its Regulations, administrative fees are now expressly included, broadly and without specific limitation
New Cause of Caducity for Breach of Economic Commitments
A new unnumbered article following Article 177 establishes that mining concessions obtained through auction or tender shall be terminated if the concessionaire fails to comply with either the minimum investment amounts or the committed investment set forth in its financial bid.
Verification Process of Minimum Investment and Committed Investment
The Ninth Transitory Provision instructs the Mining Regulation and Control Agency, within ninety (90) days, to verify whether mining concessions obtained through auction or tender have complied with the minimum investment amounts and the committed investment proposed in the financial bid. The results must be reported to the Sectoral Ministry to initiate, if applicable, forfeiture proceedings.
The National Court of Justice, through Resolution No. 15-2025, has issued a new binding jurisprudential precedent in labor law matters.
The Specialized Chamber for Labor Law identified a recurring issue in several cases where the plaintiff’s (employee’s) testimony as a party was considered, on its own, sufficient evidence to prove the facts alleged in their complaint.
The analysis was grounded on the principles of evidence assessment established in the Organic General Code of Processes (COGEP), which mandate that evidence must be evaluated as a whole and in accordance with the rules of sound judicial discretion (sana crítica). Consequently, the plaintiff’s statement as a party cannot be the sole piece of evidence sufficient to prove the facts alleged in the complaint.
Binding Jurisprudential Precedent
The Plenary of the National Court has resolved to declare the following point of law as a binding jurisprudential precedent:
“In labor law matters, the plaintiff’s testimony as a party does not, by itself, constitute suitable and sufficient evidence to prove the facts alleged in the complaint. Therefore, for said testimony to acquire evidentiary sufficiency, it must be corroborated by external, objective data that allows it to be subjected to an examination of credibility, verisimilitude, and reliability.”
Effects of the Resolution
The Law of Social Transparency, published in Official Gazette Third Supplement No. 81 on August 28, 2025, establishes the following tax reforms:
The profits or dividends distributed by resident companies or permanent establishments in Ecuador will be subject to a single income tax. This tax will be withheld by the company making the distribution.
The applicable tax rate is 12%; however, it is reduced or increased in the following cases:
Dividends distributed to another resident company or permanent establishment in Ecuador are not considered taxable income.
If the dividend recipient is an individual resident in Ecuador, the equivalent of 3 unified basic salaries (USD 1,410 for 2025) will be considered exempt with respect to each company distributing dividends, within the same tax period.
Dividends distributed between January 1 and August 28, 2025, will be consolidated with global income and subject to the regular income tax payment.
Companies and permanent establishments with tax residence in Ecuador that, by July 31 of each tax year, do not distribute accumulated profits from previous years, shall pay on that balance the following rates:
BRACKET FROM TO RATE 1 – $100,000.00 0.00% 2 $100,000.01 $1,000,000.00 0.75% 3 $1,000,000.01 $10,000,000.00 1.25% 4 $10,000,000.01 $100,000,000.00 1.75% 5 $100,000,000.01 $500,000,000.00 2.25% 6 $500,000,000.01 Onwards 2.50%
In the case of financial and insurance institutions, the amount of profits that cannot be distributed due to orders from the supervisory authority shall not be taken into account.
If the company distributes dividends within the following 2 years, the amount paid may be used as a tax credit for withholding tax applicable to the dividend distribution.
If the company distributes dividends or capitalizes undistributed profits within the following 2 years, the amount may be used as a tax credit for the company’s income tax payment, and the excess may be refunded.
If the entity does not distribute dividends or capitalize its profits within the following 2 years, the amount paid cannot be credited against any tax, will not be refundable, and must be recorded as a non-deductible expense.
Investment funds, trusts, and mixed-economy companies with state participation are not obliged to pay this advance. Companies that have recognized investments in other companies using the equity method are not subject to the advance payment with respect to the undistributed profits of the companies they own.
This advance payment will apply as of the 2025 tax year.
Pursuant to Agreement No. 027-CG-2025, published in the Official Gazette No. 83, on July 17, 2025, the Office of the Comptroller General of the State has amended several regulations governing the procedures for the pre-determination and determination of culpable civil liability.
The amended regulations include: (i) Organic Statute for Organizational Management by Processes; (ii) Regulations for the Preparation, Processing, and Approval of Government Audit Reports; (iii) Substitute Regulations on the Execution of Documents; and (iv) Regulations on the Determination of Liability.
A summary of the amendments is provided below:
1.The National Director for the Pre-determination of Liability may refrain from pre-determining civil liability when the amount involved does not exceed US$20,000. For higher amounts, prior authorization from the Deputy Comptroller General of the State shall be required
2. In deciding not to pre-determine civil liability, at least the following criteria shall be taken into account: (i) contradiction or inconsistency between the liability suggested in the audit report and other sections of the report, supporting documentation, or applicable regulations; (ii) absence of evidence demonstrating economic harm; (iii) preparation of the audit report under regulations not in force at the time of the audited actions; and (iv) restitution or payment of the amounts stated in the report by the audited parties.
3.If, during the approval process, the approval period expires, the work order shall be canceled and the audit rescheduled.
4.Evidence such as on-site inspections, expert reports, acknowledgment of documents, or similar forms shall be admissible, provided they comply with applicable procedural legislation and are conducted by experts accredited by the Judiciary Council.
By Resolution No. SPDP-SPD-2025-0030-R, dated August 7, 2025, the Superintendency of Personal Data Protection (hereinafter “SPDP”) issued the Regulations for the pseudonymization, anonymization, blocking, and deletion of personal data (hereinafter “Regulations”)
The purpose of the Regulation is to establish guidelines for applying data security measures and ensuring the effective exercise of data subjects’ rights.
Below, we summarize the main aspects of the Regulation:
I. Pseudonymization
It is a technical measure that preserves the possibility of reidentification of the data being processed.
Data controllers or processors may apply pseudonymization techniques, after carrying out the corresponding risk analysis, to technically preserve the possibility of reidentifying the data being processed.
Pseudonymized data will continue to be considered personal data and, therefore, the provisions of the Data Protection Law will apply to them.
Pseudonymization may be applied in the following cases: (i) in the provision of products or services where identification of the data subject is not necessary; (ii) in scientific, historical, or statistical research processes; and (iii) in internal audits, system testing, or security analyses.
If a reidentification action of pseudonymized information is carried out, such action must be recorded to guarantee the data subjects’ right to data protection.
II. Anonymization
It is a technical security measure used to prevent the identification or reidentification of a data subject.
To apply this technique, a risk analysis of the implications must be carried out, and it must also be assessed that this measure does not affect the continuity and quality of the services provided.
Authorization from the SPDP will be required for the processing of anonymized health data.
If the personal data is anonymized, the consent of the data subject will not be required for its transfer.
III. Blocking
Once the purpose of the processing has been fulfilled, personal data may be retained for the period established by law in compliance with legal obligations, or for as long as there is a legitimate basis that permits such retention.
Nevertheless, blocking techniques must be applied to this data to ensure it is securely maintained and access to it is limited and restricted solely to fulfill the purposes that remain after the primary objective has been exhausted.
IV. Suspension
The data subject has the right to request that the controller or processor temporarily halt a specific processing activity. In such cases, the controller must suspend the processing within no more than three days.
If the processing has been delegated to a processor, the controller must notify the processor of the request, and the processor must suspend the processing within a maximum period of three days from the notification.
Likewise, when a data subject revokes their consent, the controller must cease processing activities within a maximum of three (3) days from receipt of the notification from the data subject.
V. Erasure
The data subject may request the erasure of all or part of their personal data that is being processed. This request will only proceed when the data controller does not have a legal basis for continuing the processing of the personal data that is the subject of the request.
If the data subject exercises this right and their request is accepted, the data controller must provide the data subject with a document certifying the erasure of their personal data.
When the data subject exercises their right of erasure, this request must be notified by the controller to all processors and third parties to whom the data was previously transferred, so that they also proceed with its erasure within three (3) days.
The Data Protection Agreement (DPA) must establish the necessary conditions to carry out and guarantee the return or erasure of personal data by the processor.
Once its legal relationship with the controller has ended, the processor must return or erase the personal data within five (5) days and provide the data controller with a document certifying such erasure.
VI. Right to portability
The right to portability entitles the data subject to receive their personal data from the controller in a compatible format. This transfer must be carried out whenever technically possible.
Once the data transfer has been completed to the new controller, the original controller must erase the transferred data from its own systems.
Within six months of the publication of the Regulation in the Official Register, the General Directorate for Innovation, Technology, and Personal Data Security must present the “Technical Guide to Pseudonymization, Anonymization, Blocking, Suspension, and Erasure in Personal Data Protection.”
On August 6, 2025, the Tax Authority (“SRI”) issued Resolution No. NAC-DGERCGC25-000000018 (the “Resolution”), whereby it establishes the following:
We recommend reviewing the activities listed in the RUC to retain only those activities that the taxpayer actually performs and remove those that are not carried out, in order to avoid being incorrectly classified as an obligated party to report to the UAFE.
