Ecuadorian VAT on Stripe Digital Services in QuickBooks

A US company sells a $20 monthly software subscription to customers in Quito and Guayaquil. It has never registered with Ecuador's tax authority, and its Stripe account charges no Ecuadorian tax. Ecuador's IVA (its value added tax) on those subscriptions is still being paid. The customers' card issuers collect it, on the customers' cards, under a rule that makes the bank the collector whenever the foreign seller isn't registered.

That is the first thing to understand about Ecuador, and it makes Ecuador different from Chile, Peru or Colombia: for a foreign seller of digital services, registration is a choice, not a threshold you cross. Stripe's own Ecuador entry says so: "Registering to collect tax in Ecuador is voluntary if you're selling digital services to customers in Ecuador." What changes when you register is who collects the tax, who files it, and what lands in your books.

This guide covers the two ways Ecuador collects IVA on digital services, how to register with the SRI (Servicio de Rentas Internas, Ecuador's tax authority) and the quarterly list that decides when your registration takes effect, the 15 percent rate, monthly returns in US dollars, paying by international wire, refunds, a worked month, and what reaches QuickBooks. It is bookkeeping guidance, not tax advice.

Acodei brings Stripe Tax amounts into QuickBooks, so the Ecuadorian tax you collect is already in your liability account when the month closes. Start a free trial.

Two ways Ecuador collects IVA on a foreign digital service

Ecuador brought digital services into the IVA through the Ley Orgánica de Simplificación y Progresividad Tributaria, published on 31 December 2019, which amended the Ley de Régimen Tributario Interno (LRTI, Ecuador's internal tax law). Article 56 of the LRTI now says that digital services "as defined in the regulations to this law" are also subject to IVA (our translation; the law and the SRI's resolutions are in Spanish, and every quotation from them here is ours unless we say the SRI published it in English). The tax has applied since 16 September 2020.

The law then sets up two collection routes, and which one applies depends on a single fact: whether you are registered.

Route 1: you register, and you collect. Article 63 of the LRTI makes non-resident providers of digital services taxpayers "in the capacity of collection agents" ("agentes de percepción"), "provided they register in the form established by the Servicio de Rentas Internas." You add the tax to your sales, file a monthly return, and pay the SRI.

Route 2: you don't register, and the payment chain collects. The same article makes "credit card issuing companies, in payments made for the acquisition of digital services, when the service provider is not registered" withholding agents. Article 70 says who bears it: when the digital provider isn't registered, the IVA "will be borne by the importer of the service, as taxpayer," and "if there is an intermediary in the payment process, the latter will assume the role of withholding agent."

In plain terms, on the law's text, Route 2 makes your Ecuadorian customer the taxpayer and their card issuer the collector. You receive your price and file nothing in Ecuador.

How the banks know who is registered

The SRI publishes a list, the Catastro de Prestadores de Servicios Digitales (the register of digital service providers). The SRI's guide for payment intermediaries tells them how to read it. Column A lists providers by the names that appear in banks' foreign currency reports, with variants such as "NETFLIX and Netflix." Two columns decide whether the bank withholds:

• Registrado SRI (column F). Where it says SI, intermediaries "must NOT withhold the IVA because the digital service providers registered with the SRI and they will be the ones who declare the IVA as collection agents." Where it is empty, they withhold.
• Marca Servicios Comisión (column D). Where a provider is marked as earning commission income, banks withhold only on the commission share, not on the full payment.

Two consequences follow for a Stripe seller:

• If you aren't on the list at all, you are outside the name search the guide tells banks to run. How a given issuer treats your charges is then between that bank and the SRI, and nothing about it shows up in Stripe.
• If you register, it is column F that switches the banks off. Until the list shows you as registered, they keep withholding.

Should you register?

Registering is the more work of the two routes. You take on a monthly return, a monthly international wire, and a penalty regime. What you get for it is control over the price your customer pays.

	Not registered	Registered with the SRI
Who is the taxpayer	Your Ecuadorian customer	You, as collection agent
Who collects	The customer's card issuer or other payment intermediary	You, through Stripe Tax
What your customer pays	Your price, plus IVA collected by their bank	Your price with IVA, as shown at checkout
Ecuador returns	None	Monthly, by the 15th, including nil months
Stripe Tax setting	No Ecuador registration	An Ecuador registration, scheduled from your designation date
What reaches QuickBooks	Revenue only	Revenue plus a tax liability

A seller with a handful of Ecuadorian customers may prefer Route 2, because it costs nothing to administer. A seller with a large Ecuadorian base, or one that prices tax-inclusive and wants the checkout total to be the total, has a reason to register. That decision depends on your volumes and your customers, and it is one to make with an adviser.

The rest of this guide assumes you register.

Registering with the SRI

Resolution NAC-DGERCGC20-00000055, signed on 4 September 2020, sets the procedure. Article 4 confirms the choice: providers "that voluntarily opt to register with the Servicio de Rentas Internas, through enrollment in the Registro Único de Contribuyentes (RUC), will act as IVA collection agents." The same article says the registration does not, "by itself," create a permanent establishment in Ecuador.

Registration is by email. You send the documents as PDFs to serviciosdigitales@sri.gob.ec, and the SRI's digital services page carries the forms. For a company, Article 5 asks for:

1. The RUC registration form as a collection agent, completed in Spanish and signed by the legal representative.
2. The signed agreement on responsibility and use of electronic means.
3. A certificate of tax residence for the company.
4. Documents proving the company exists, with a Spanish translation, showing its country of residence, name, home-country tax ID, city, address, postal code and contact details.
5. Documents proving the legal representative's appointment, with a Spanish translation.
6. The legal representative's ID or passport.

No local representative is required. Article 5 asks only that, if you do have an attorney in Ecuador, you send their contact details. Our tax representative entry covers the countries that insist on one.

If the SRI finds errors, it gives you three business days to correct them, or it files the request away and you start again. Once it approves, it emails your RUC number and a link to set up your password for the SRI's online services.

When your registration actually starts

Approval is not the start date. Article 10 ties it to the quarterly update of the catastro, which the SRI publishes by the 15th of January, April, July and October:

SRI approves your registration	Catastro updated by	You collect from
1 January to 31 March	15 April	1 May
1 April to 30 June	15 July	1 August
1 July to 30 September	15 October	1 November
1 October to 31 December	15 January	1 February

The SRI's English-language guideline puts it directly: "after the registration application has been approved, the digital service provider will assume the quality of collection agent from the first day of the month following the update of the list of digital service providers." Article 10 also lets you name, on the registration form, which of those start dates you want.

This date matters more in Ecuador than almost anywhere else, because the banks are working from the same list. Start charging IVA in Stripe before the catastro shows you as registered and an Ecuadorian customer can be charged twice: once by you at checkout, and once by their card issuer. Start late and you have collected nothing for months in which you were the collection agent.

Stripe lets you schedule a registration: add Ecuador, choose Schedule tax collection, and enter the designation date the SRI gave you. Stripe starts calculating Ecuadorian tax on that date and not before.

The rate: 15 percent

The SRI's IVA page lists the general rate as 15 percent from 1 April 2024, set by Executive Decree 198. The rate comes from an executive decree rather than the law's own text, so it can change without a new law. Check the SRI's page at the start of each year, and check a test Ecuadorian invoice in Stripe before you rely on it.

What it applies to. Article 14 of the resolution sets the base as "the total value paid" by the Ecuadorian customer. For a subscription, that is the whole price. The exception is commission business: where the digital service is delivery of goods or a service "for which a commission is charged," the IVA applies to the commission only.

Who you charge. The resolution covers digital services imported by Ecuadorian tax residents, companies as well as individuals, and by permanent establishments in Ecuador. There is no consumers-only carve-out. Stripe matches it. Its Ecuador entry says that once you register, "Stripe will calculate tax in transactions to consumers and to businesses." Its customer tax ID table lists ec_ruc, "Ecuadorian RUC number," with the example 1234567890001, and marks its impact on tax calculation as No. Storing an Ecuadorian business customer's RUC in Stripe puts the number on the invoice. It doesn't stop the tax.

Priced exclusive, a $20 plan becomes $23. Priced inclusive, the tax inside $20 is $20 × 15/115, or $2.61, and your revenue is $17.39. Our guide to inclusive and exclusive tax in QuickBooks covers how each posts.

Monthly returns, in US dollars

Ecuador is a monthly regime with no quarterly option for these providers. Article 12 of the resolution:

• One return per month, due by the 15th of the following month. January is due 15 February, and December is due 15 January. A due date that falls on a rest day or holiday in Ecuador moves to the next business day.
• Ecuador's clock. Article 17 says dates are judged on continental Ecuador time, GMT minus 5.
• Nil returns are required. If you had no Ecuadorian sales in a month, you still file, answering "no" to the first question on the form. Our nil return entry explains why a first-sale registration keeps producing returns in quiet months.
• Online only, on the IVA form in the SRI's online services, which Article 13 reserves for non-resident collection agents.

Currency. Article 14 says amounts on the return must be "in the legal tender of Ecuador, regardless of the currency in which the service was invoiced." The SRI's guideline spells it out: "the legal tender in Ecuador (United States Dollar)." For a seller pricing in USD, the dollar tax in Stripe's export is the dollar figure on the return, with no conversion step and no filing currency column to reconcile. A seller pricing Ecuadorian customers in euros or pounds has to convert to dollars for the return.

Penalties. A late return costs 3 percent of the tax for each month or part of a month, capped at 100 percent of the tax, plus interest (Article 18). Failing to file one or more returns within the quarter covered by a catastro update can get your RUC suspended or cancelled (Article 19), and Article 26 does the same for unpaid tax after a 10-business-day warning. Once suspended or cancelled, you can't re-register for a year.

Paying by international wire

Article 21 makes payment a transfer to the SRI's account at the Banco Central del Ecuador, account 01331739, "CCU SRI-IVA-IMPORTACION SERVICIOS DIGITALES-FT." The SRI's guideline lists the full routing, through an intermediary bank in New York, and two rules that change your bookkeeping:

• The fees are yours. "The commission and any financial cost for the international transfer must be borne by the collection agent." If the SRI receives less than the return says, the guideline treats it as a partial payment that "will generate the respective interests."
• The payment date is the date it lands. The SRI counts payment from the day the transfer reaches its account, not the day you send it. The guideline's advice is to "declare and pay the same day."

After paying, you email recaudacion@sri.gob.ec within the deadline with your RUC, company name, payment receipt number, amount, the bank you sent it from, the payment's CEP number and the payment date.

Refunds go on the next return

Article 15 handles refunds. If you refund all or part of a sale whose IVA you already declared and paid, you report the refunded amount, "without IVA or interest," in the credit notes box on the return for the month the refund happened. You don't amend the earlier month.

That matches how a Stripe credit note works: the refund shows up in the month you issue it, with the tax broken out. Refund Ecuadorian invoices through credit notes, for the bookkeeping reason in the QuickBooks section below.

A worked month for a software company

A Delaware company sells project management software, priced in USD with tax added on top. The SRI approved its registration in March 2026, its designation started on 1 May 2026, and its Stripe registration for Ecuador is scheduled from that date. January 2027:

1. 60 consumer subscribers at $20 a month. $1,200.00. IVA $180.00.
2. 2 new annual plans at $200. $400.00. IVA $60.00.
3. A Guayaquil agency on a $500 team plan, with its RUC stored as ec_ruc. Stripe still charges IVA: $75.00.
4. A refund of a December charge. A subscriber cancels on 4 January and gets December's $20 back through a credit note. December's IVA was already declared and paid, so the $20 goes in the credit notes box for January, reducing the tax by $3.00.

IVA for January: $180.00 plus $60.00 plus $75.00, less $3.00, is $312.00. That matches the Ecuador rows of Stripe's export for the month, with the refund in January. The return and the wire are due by 15 February 2027, Ecuador time. The bank charges $35 for the wire.

What reaches QuickBooks, and what you book yourself

Acodei syncs the tax Stripe Tax calculated, so the Ecuador registration in Stripe has to be in place first, and Stripe Tax has to be active in your Stripe account.

For a US QuickBooks company, Acodei's method is the Tax Product: a non-inventory "Sales Tax" product mapped to a liability account, with all Stripe Tax amounts on a sale rolled into one line on the QuickBooks invoice or sales receipt. QuickBooks' Sales Tax Center doesn't let third parties create official tax rates for US companies, which is why the product approach is the one that works there. Acodei's documentation notes this needs Stripe Tax used with Stripe Invoicing or Stripe Checkout. You file from Stripe's reports and pay from the liability account.

For a QuickBooks company outside the US, Acodei's documentation describes a second option: mapping individual Stripe tax rates to QuickBooks tax codes you set up, such as a 15 percent Ecuador code.

The refund, item 4. Acodei's documentation says a refund issued through a credit note carries the line-level tax breakdown. A refund made on the payment alone may not show how much was tax, and that case can need a manual adjustment in QuickBooks. That is the reason to refund Ecuadorian invoices through credit notes. Our guide to refunding Stripe Tax in QuickBooks walks through both cases.

The payment. When the $312.00 is due, the wire leaves your account for $347.00. Reduce the tax liability by $312.00 and post the $35.00 to bank fees, not to tax. If the SRI's account receives less than $312.00 because an intermediary bank took a fee, you owe the difference and interest, so check the amount that landed before you close the month. The same liability account holds US sales tax and any other foreign tax from Stripe Tax, so note the Ecuadorian slice each month. Our guide to reconciling the Stripe Tax report in QuickBooks covers the liability side, and the Stripe Tax itemized export entry lists the columns you filter on (country_code EC).

If your QuickBooks company isn't in dollars, the liability sits in your home currency while the SRI receives dollars. Clear the balance for the month and post the difference to the account your accountant uses for exchange gains and losses.

If you aren't registered, there is nothing to book for Ecuador. Stripe calculates no Ecuadorian tax, your revenue is your price, and whatever your customers' banks collect is between them and the SRI.

Common mistakes with Ecuadorian tax on Stripe sales

• Treating Ecuador like a first-sale country. Registration is voluntary. If you don't register, the customer's bank collects the tax and you have no Ecuador filing.
• Turning on Stripe's Ecuador registration the day the SRI approves you. Your designation starts after the next catastro update. Until then, card issuers are still withholding, and your customer can be charged twice.
• Expecting the RUC to stop the tax. ec_ruc has no impact on Stripe's calculation. Ecuador taxes business customers too.
• Skipping nil returns. A registered collection agent files every month, sales or not, and missed returns can cost you the registration.
• Netting the wire fee against the tax. The fee is your cost, and a short payment counts as partial, with interest.
• Amending last month for a refund. Ecuador takes refunds in the credit notes box of the month you refund.
• Using a general tax code. Stripe only calculates Ecuadorian tax on digital product tax codes. See our product tax code entry.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do foreign SaaS companies have to register for VAT in Ecuador?

No. Registration is voluntary for non-resident providers of digital services. A provider that registers with the SRI becomes a collection agent and charges, files and pays the 15 percent IVA itself. If it doesn't register, the IVA is borne by the Ecuadorian customer and collected by their card issuer or other payment intermediary, and the provider has no Ecuador return to file.

What is the VAT rate on digital services in Ecuador?

The general IVA rate is 15 percent, applying from 1 April 2024 under Executive Decree 198, according to the SRI. It applies to the total the Ecuadorian customer pays. Where the digital service is charged as a commission, such as delivery or intermediation, the tax applies to the commission only. The rate is set by decree, so check the SRI's page each year.

When does a registered provider start collecting IVA in Ecuador?

From the first day of the month after the SRI's next quarterly update of its catastro of digital service providers. A registration approved between 1 January and 31 March starts on 1 May, one approved in the second quarter starts on 1 August, then 1 November and 1 February. Schedule your Stripe registration from that date, because card issuers keep withholding until the list shows you as registered.

How often do non-resident providers file IVA returns in Ecuador?

Monthly, by the 15th of the following month on Ecuador time (GMT minus 5), with a return due even for a month with no sales. Amounts are reported in US dollars, Ecuador's legal tender, and the tax is paid by international transfer to the SRI's account at the Banco Central del Ecuador, with the transfer fees borne by the provider.

Does Stripe Tax charge Ecuadorian business customers?

Yes, once you have an Ecuador registration in Stripe. Stripe says it calculates tax on transactions to both consumers and businesses in Ecuador, and its tax ID table marks the Ecuadorian RUC (ec_ruc) as having no impact on the calculation. The SRI's resolution covers digital services imported by Ecuadorian tax residents, companies included.

Three Ecuadorian details that decide your numbers

Ecuador asks a different first question from most of its neighbors. Elsewhere, the question is whether your sales have created a registration duty. In Ecuador, it is whether you want one: without a registration, your customers' banks collect the tax, and with one, you do. If you register, the start date is set by the SRI's quarterly list, not by your approval, and it is the date Stripe should start charging. And the rest is simpler than it looks for a USD seller: the return is in dollars, so Stripe's dollar totals are the figures you file, and the only extra entry in QuickBooks is the wire fee. Our guides to Chilean VAT, Peruvian IGV, Colombian VAT and Uruguayan VAT cover the neighbors.

Acodei syncs Stripe Tax into QuickBooks, so each Ecuadorian month starts from the liability account instead of a spreadsheet. Start a free trial.