The companies can now have several economic activities

Ecuadornews:

Now, the owners of a chain of bakeries can also dedicate themselves to market ovens, for example, with their own company. This is established by the Organic Law for Optimization and Efficiency of Procedures, which is in force since the end of last month.

Previously, if a company wanted to dedicate itself to another activity unrelated to its corporate name, it had to change it or create a new company, which involved complex expenses and procedures, explains Napoleón Santamaría, expert lawyer in tax matters.

The Law to Optimize Procedures modifies the Company Law of 1999. “The corporate purpose of a company may include one or more legal business activities, unless the Constitution or the law prohibits it. The corporate purpose must be clearly established in its social contract, “the document indicates.

Assemblyman Pabel Muñoz, who proposed the Law on Optimization and Efficiency of Procedures, says he proposed this possibility based on the experience of other countries in the region that are managed under similar rules for their companies.

Now, says Muñoz, the question is to what extent a company may have an activity different from the original. That is, if a firm can count on other activities that have no relationship with each other or must belong to its same branch of economic activity. That is, for example, if a company that is dedicated to the wood pulp business can also engage in telecommunications, such as Nokia, Muñoz says.

That will have to be established in a regulation by the Superintendence of Companies and the Internal Revenue Service in the coming days, assures the Assemblyman.

In the case of exceptions, explains Santamaría, prohibitions remain for the media and for financial companies. Other cases are transportation companies or factoring, which offer liquidity and other financing services for companies, says the specialist.

Guillermo Jarrín, manager of Tippytea Blends, a company that sells tea in the commercial centers of Guayaquil and Quito, plans to venture into the sale of packaged tea.

To carry out this project, he had planned to change the company’s name and that involved a “cumbersome” process. For this reason, Jarrin ensures that the measure will be positive when it comes to reducing paperwork for the company.

Even, says Jarrín, his business has had problems in Customs when importing inputs that, at the discretion of the authorities, do not correspond to their economic activity.

Other proposals of the law

Procedures

In the Executive Function, 1,934 transactions were accounted for as of May 2017. Now, as stipulated by law, the consent of new procedures will be the responsibility of the Ministry of Telecommunications, which will give way to another procedure as long as two are deleted.

Platform

It also obliges the existence of a payment platform by electronic means and creates a system of compensation of debts between private and the State, which will be extended to withheld or levied taxes. About that issue, we still have to define deadlines and more details. (I)

Source: https://www.expreso.ec/economia/empresas-diferentes-actividades-economicas-ley-GE2457822