SMEs are those that take advantage of the referral of the SRI
Ecuadornews:
The micro and small entrepreneurs constitute the largest group of taxpayers that has accepted the referral of the Internal Revenue Service (SRI). The benefit consists in the amnesty of 100% of the interest, fines and surcharges, and it rules from August 21, when the Law of Productive Development came into force.
In the first four days of the Law, more than 25,000 taxpayers (among large, medium, small and microentrepreneurs) have already accepted the cancellation. Of these, 99% are microentrepreneurs and SMEs.
The value collected was more than USD 15 million (including payment agreements), explained the director of the SRI, Marisol Andrade. The tax remission applies in four types of obligations: debts in a firm or suspended state, pending declarations to send originals or substitutes, taxes for vehicular registration and installments due from the Simplified Tax Regime.
Wilson Espinoza went yesterday morning to the offices of the SRI, in the north of Quito, to request information about the debt he has with the institution. The entrepreneur has a real estate microenterprise for 8 years. The firm employs 10 people.
Espinoza says that the decline of the construction sector, which has been registered for four years, reduced his sales. In addition, he had a contract with a company that turned out to be a ghost, which caused him problems with the statements. “I did not know it was an illegal company,” he said with concern.
For these reasons, the company carries a debt of USD 17,000 with the SRI, since 2015. Of that figure, 40% is interest. According to the Law, SMEs have a term of 90 days, which expires on December 28, to pay taxes without interest, fines and surcharges or to agree on a two-year payment agreement.
The SRI Director noted that the entity has received requests from taxpayers from Ambato, Loja, Guayaquil, Riobamba, Guaranda and other cities, who have debts of up to USD 800, on average. The debtors agreed to agreements to pay in two years, with monthly payments between USD 30 and 40. Espinoza is one of them. It will cancel its debt without interest, with quarterly installments in two years.
The taxpayers can verify the amount of the debt, what values they must pay with the amnesty and the savings that they will obtain for availing themselves of the process. Payment methods include debit agreement and credit card. In addition, you can download a payment form from the portal and cancel directly at the bank or at the SRI windows.
The total number of debtors that are subject to referral, including large companies, total 113,187 taxpayers. Of this figure, 107,868 correspond to SMEs and micro entrepreneurs. The director of the National Chamber of Small and Medium Enterprises, Christian Cisneros, says that the decrease in sales due to the economic situation is one of the factors that explains this situation.
But he clarified that there are few who owe, compared to the whole universe of entrepreneurs. As a reference, it can be mentioned that there are 827,000 micro, small and medium enterprises, including single-person businesses, according to figures from 2016 of the National Institute of Statistics and Census.
The Chamber presided by Cisneros groups 2,200 companies. Of those, less than 5% of affiliates have delays with the SRI. The majority belongs to the textile, food and metal-mechanic sectors. Tatiana Maldonado arrived yesterday at a payment agreement with the SRI to two years. She owns a shoe store in Quito. It has three workers. The debt that the merchant has for the last two years with the SRI amounts to USD 12,000. 40% of that figure corresponds to interest.
Maldonado said that her business was affected by an increase in the supply of footwear in the place where the store has been located since 2016. In addition, sales dropped that year. The tax debts of Sulema Guaña, owner of a microenterprise that offers maintenance services to ventilation systems, total USD 24,000, with interest. It will pay the pending taxes without interest in the next two years, with quarterly installments. Guaña said that catching up will allow your company to participate again in the public procurement processes. (I)
Source: https://www.elcomercio.com/actualidad/pymes-aprovechan-remision-tributaria-sri.html