Business

Steps to forming an LLC in Ecuador

1. Appoint a legal representative

Choose a reliable expert to be your legal representative in Ecuador. Your legal representative will act on behalf of the LLC in all legal aspects, creating and signing your company’s bylaws. This gives your legal representative the power to make legal decisions for your company, and support the company formation process.

If the document is in a language other than Spanish, the legal representative should provide a correct official translation before submitting it. The person appointed as a legal representative must act in the best interests of the company and is mandated by Ecuadorian law to do so. Furthermore, you should define your business’ purpose and economic activities. Before you register your company, make sure to reserve your name as this will ease the process of registration to ensure there is no copyright or trademark. Moreover, the shareholders must deposit a minimum of US$400 before the company’s registration

2. Register the company

It is important to know to register your company with the appropriate authorities. You have to reserve the company name in Ecuador at the Superintendent of Companies. In order to obtain the company’s unique identification number, you will need to go to the Superintendent of Companies to pay the annual registration fee. For this registration you will need the following documents:

Address of the company.

The name of the legal representative.

A certified copy of the public deed of the constitution of the company.

If you want to register these matters could be of importance:

A public notary is necessary for notarising the documents.

Make sure you find a lawyer that is able to constitute and sign the documents.

Prepare the minutes of incorporation, which include the contract, articles of incorporations, company’s bylaws, and the formation of capital.

3. Obtain a tax identification number

Once you have registered your LLC in Ecuador, you’ll need to obtain a tax identification number. Business owners must apply for the Fiscal Code (Registro Único de Contribuyentes – RUC) at the

Servicio de Rentas Internas⁠

(SRI). This will take approximately 24 hours.

After this, you have to sign up online for Social Security at the

Ecuadorian Institute of Social Security⁠

, and obtain a passbook to use the online platform for more information.

Municipal License

Businesses in Ecuador need a “tasa de habilitacion,” also known as an enabling fee. To obtain this, you must pay the commercial patent at the

Municipio de Quito⁠

This patent is a tax for companies that conduct in a commercial or industrial activity. Companies must pay this tax every year. The amount will depend on the size of the company and in which sector it operates.

4. Opening a corporate bank account and depositing minimum share capital to activate

In order to correctly form an LLC in Ecuador, the shareholders must deposit a minimum of US$400 before the company’s registration. All the assets of the LLC that are worth US$1000 must be appointed to an auditor and submit annual audited financial statements to the authorities.

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