ECUADOR

On September 14, the director general of the Internal Revenue Service (SRI in Spanish), Marisol Andrade, announced that the entity complied with the international standards of the Global Forum on Fiscal Transparency for the automatic exchange of information on financial accounts in other countries. Thus, the IRS will be able to access detailed information on the ownership of assets, income, financial statements, contracts and transactions made by Ecuadorian taxpayers abroad. The objective of the Executive Branch is to combat and strengthen the fight against tax evasion.

Andrade explained that the institution developed several components to meet the required standards such as the international and domestic legal framework. In addition, the physical, computer and institutional security services were modified. Likewise, the SRI developed a technological tool that allows the reception of information from national financial institutions and the sending of such information to other jurisdictions.

In turn, the official explained that the information obtained will also be used for the detection of the transfer of assets to countries with low or no taxation by companies and for the determination of undeclared income by Ecuadorians abroad. In other words, the IRS will be able to verify through audits, if the income obtained by taxpayers have paid the corresponding taxes in the country.