---
name: ec-company-formation
description: "Source-cited draft: company formation & entity choice for Ecuador (tax year 2025) — rates, thresholds and rules with primary-source citations. Unverified; pending local-accountant review."
license: "AGPL-3.0-or-later (code) / OpenAccountants Guide License v1.0 (content)"
metadata:
  source: openaccountants
  openaccountants_url: "https://www.openaccountants.com/skills/ec-company-formation"
  jurisdiction: "EC"
  tax_year: "2025"
  last_updated: "2026-07-13"
  review_status: "pending_review"
---

# Ecuador Company Formation & Entity Choice

## Entity types, capital and incorporation

- **Governing framework** — Companies in Ecuador are governed by the Ley de Compañías and supervised by the Superintendencia de Compañías, Valores y Seguros (SCVS). The most common vehicles are the Compañía Limitada (Cía. Ltda.), the Sociedad Anónima (S.A.) and the simplified-stock company (S.A.S.).  _(Ley de Compañías)_
- **Compañía Limitada (Cía. Ltda.)** — Limited liability company; 2–15 partners; common SME vehicle  _(Ley de Compañías)_
- **Sociedad Anónima (S.A.)** — Stock corporation; minimum 2 shareholders; freely transferable shares  _(Ley de Compañías)_
- **Sociedad por Acciones Simplificada (S.A.S.)** — Simplified stock company; can be formed by one or more shareholders; no fixed statutory minimum capital (approx — confirm) (approx — confirm)  _(Ley de Compañías (S.A.S. reform))_
- **Minimum capital — Compañía Limitada** — 400 USD  _(Ley de Compañías)_
- **Minimum capital — Sociedad Anónima** — 800 USD  _(Ley de Compañías)_
- **Capital paid-in at incorporation — Cía. Ltda.** — Capital fully subscribed; at least 50% of each share's nominal value paid in at incorporation  _(Ley de Compañías)_
- **Capital paid-in at incorporation — S.A.** — Capital fully subscribed; at least 25% paid in at incorporation  _(Ley de Compañías)_
- **Registration authority** — Superintendencia de Compañías, Valores y Seguros (SCVS), plus Registro Mercantil  _([Ley de Compañías](https://www.supercias.gob.ec))_
- **Incorporation steps** — Reserve company name with SCVS; open integration-of-capital bank account; execute the constitutive deed (electronic or notarial); register with the Registro Mercantil; obtain RUC from SRI  _(Ley de Compañías)_
- **Incorporation timeline** — Roughly 1–4 weeks via the SCVS electronic incorporation process (approx — confirm) (approx — confirm)  _(SCVS electronic incorporation procedure)_
- **Core annual compliance** — File annual income tax return; file annual financial statements / shareholder data with SCVS; pay the SCVS supervisory contribution; maintain RUC and IVA/withholding filings  _(Ley de Compañías; Ley de Régimen Tributario Interno (LRTI))_
- **SCVS annual supervisory contribution** — Annual contribution assessed on company assets, payable to the SCVS (approx — confirm rate) (approx — confirm rate)  _(Ley de Compañías)_

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> **General reference only.** This document does not constitute tax, legal, or
> financial advice. Verify figures against the cited primary sources or with a
> licensed professional before relying on them.

## Today's figures and who stands behind this skill

This file is an AI skill (tax rules your AI follows) from OpenAccountants, copied on 2026-07-13. Rates, thresholds and deadlines change. For the current version of this skill, its official sources and the named accountant (if any) who stands behind it, call `get_skill` with slug `ec-company-formation` on the OpenAccountants connector (https://www.openaccountants.com/connect), or read https://www.openaccountants.com/skills/ec-company-formation. If neither is available, confirm every figure against the official source pages cited above before relying on it.