Decree 513 reduces VAT on tourism activities to 8% in October

Executive Decree 513 reduces the general Value Added Tax (VAT) rate to eight percent (8%) applicable to the provision of services defined as tourism activities, during Friday 9, Saturday 10, and Sunday 11 of October 2026. The measure is contained in the Official Registry, Eighth Supplement No. 380, published in Quito on Wednesday, September 30, 2026, on page 25, within the block of decrees of the Presidency of the Republic of Ecuador. The reduction is applied in accordance with the provisions of Article 5 of the Tourism Law.

The scope of the measure is defined by normative reference: the decree does not create its own list of beneficiaries, but instead refers to the tourism activities recognized in Article 5 of the Tourism Law, a legal body reformed by the Organic Law for the Strengthening of Tourism Activities and Employment Promotion, published in the Official Registry – Supplement No. 525, of March 25, 2024. The implementing regulation of that law was issued via Presidential Decree No. 333, published in the Official Registry, Third Supplement No. 600, of July 15, 2024.

Which activities are included in the reduction

According to the current definition of Article 5 of the Tourism Law, tourism activities are those provided for remuneration by natural or legal persons in the following categories:

• Accommodation, including tourist accommodation in residential properties.
• Food, beverages, and entertainment.
• Tourism agencies, in their wholesale, international, operator, and dual modalities.
• Tourist transport by land, air, or water.
• Organization of events, congresses, conventions, meetings, incentives, conferences, fairs, and exhibitions.
• Convention centers, reception halls, and banquet halls.
• Tourist guiding.
• Community tourism centers.
• Theme parks and stable attractions.
• Spas, thermal baths, and tourist recreation centers.

In practice, the reduction applies to lodging, gastronomy, and travel intermediation, among other services, provided that the provider is registered in the corresponding activity.

Relief limited to three days

The benefit is not permanent: Executive Decree 513 expressly limits it to Friday 9, Saturday 10, and Sunday 11 of October 2026, that is, the long weekend of October. Outside of that period, the general VAT rate for tourism activities returns to being governed by the ordinary rules of the tax.

The regulation was certified by the Legal General Secretary of the Presidency of the Republic of Ecuador, Gomez Valdiviezo Aldrin Fernando, with an electronic signature registered on September 29, 2026, one day before the circulation of the supplement.

The rest of the supplement

Executive Decree 513 is the eighth of the nine decrees that make up the Eighth Supplement No. 380, a 36-page issue corresponding to Year II. The other decrees in the same bulletin address:

• Decree 506: appointment of Luis Guillermo Arellano Jibaja as concurrent Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Singapore and Brunei Darussalam, based in Jakarta.
• Decree 507: suspension of the workday throughout the national territory, for the public and private sectors, on Friday, November 20, 2026.
• Decree 508: ratification of the “Cooperation Agreement between the Republic of Ecuador and the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, of Rhodes and of Malta”.
• Decree 509: appointment of Bernardo Antonio Cordovez Cereceda as Minister of Economic and Productive Development.
• Decree 510: appointment of Diana Paulina Ramírez Villacís as Minister of Labor and Human Development.
• Decree 511: appointment of Cynthia Natalie Gellibert Mora as representative of the Executive Branch to the Board of Directors of the Ecuadorian Social Security Institute.
• Decree 512: appointment of Roberto Augusto Izurieta Canova as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Government of the Republic of Peru.
• Decree 514: assignment of the Armed Forces Specialty Hospital No. 1 to the Joint Command of the Armed Forces, on page 30.

The edition closes with the direction of Mgs. Jaqueline Vargas Camacho, Acting Director of the Official Registry.

Impact on the traveler’s pocket

The reduction of VAT to 8% directly lowers the cost of tourist consumption during the weekend of October 9 to 11: every invoice issued for accommodation, food, or agency services during those three days will be calculated at the reduced rate, which transfers an immediate saving to the tourist and sustains demand during a period of high occupancy. For providers, the operational challenge lies in invoicing: the benefit is valid for only 72 hours and requires the correct discrimination of the tax on each voucher issued within that period.

Source: Official Registry, Eighth Supplement No. 380, Wednesday, September 30, 2026, section I (Executive Branch), p. 25 (official reference: Executive Decree 513).