Decree 530 re-issues the tax regulation and sets a zero electricity rate

The President of the Republic issued Executive Decree No. 530, which re-issues the Regulations for the application of the Internal Tax Regime Law and establishes a zero percent rate of VAT and ISD for goods in the electrical sector. The regulation, signed on November 10, 2026, was published in the Fifth Supplement No. 407 of the Official Registry on Wednesday, November 11, 2026, consisting of 33 pages and under the certification of the legal general secretary of the Presidency of the Republic, Aldrin Fernando Gómez Valdiviezo.

The decree is based on Article 55 of the Internal Tax Regime Law, which recognizes a zero rate for electrical energy (paragraph 11) and for equipment and accessories for solar photovoltaic generation and wastewater treatment plants (paragraph 19). The starting point is the reference that this law makes to the regulation: Article 194 is replaced by Executive Decree No. 530 to specify which goods are understood to be included in both paragraphs.

The text is completed with Article 2, which sets the zero percent rate of the Foreign Currency Outflow Tax for the operations in Article 156 of the Reformatory Law for Tax Equity in Ecuador linked to the import of those same goods, and with the First General Provision, which defers the application of both rates until the day following the publication in the Official Registry of the act that issues the lists of goods.

Which goods are included in the zero rate

The new Article 194 lists the goods included in the phases of installation, expansion, rehabilitation, repowering, operation, and maintenance of electrical infrastructure:

• equipment, turbines, inverters, generators, machinery, materials, supplies, components, systems, and installations, including their parts, pieces, and accessories;
• goods from thermal, wind, hydroelectric, solar photovoltaic, geothermal, tidal, wave, biomass, biogas and green hydrogen, nuclear, and other transition sources;
• electrical energy storage systems and their components;
• infrastructure of the Autonomous Energy Districts, whether connected or not to the National Interconnected System, according to their enabling titles.

The scope is limited to the goods listed in the sub-heading list and in the list of local goods products issued by the Ministry of Environment and Energy in coordination with the Internal Revenue Service and the National Customs Service of Ecuador.

The lists: 104 sub-headings and 55 items

On the same November 11, in the Seventh Supplement No. 407 of the Official Registry, Agreement No. MAE-MAE-2026-0118-AM was published, signed by the Minister of Environment and Energy, Juan Carlos Damián Blum Baquero, which issues the annexes provided for in the decree:

• Annex 1: list of tariff subheadings for the electricity sector with a zero ISD rate on imports;
• Annex 2: list of goods and products from the electricity sector with a zero VAT rate on local transfers;
• 104 tariff subheadings and 55 items of goods, according to the technical report from the Vice Ministry of Electricity and Renewable Energy.

The agreement specifies that the lists are exhaustive and not interpretative, that they do not modify the tariff classification rules nor the determination and control competencies of the Internal Revenue Service and the National Customs Service of Ecuador, and that the Undersecretariat of Electric Power Generation and Transmission will coordinate their application. The rates are effective from the day following the publication of said agreement.

Prior Procedures and Controls

The issuance of the annexes required sequential pronouncements. The Ministry of Economic and Productive Development ratified, via Official Letter No. MDEP-VGF-2026-0708-O, the favorable opinion that supported Executive Decree No. 530 itself and later, with Official Letter No. MDEP-VGF-2026-0710-O, dated November 10, 2026, indicated that a new opinion was not required because the lists did not incorporate additional subheadings or goods, nor did they exceed the impact quantified by the Internal Revenue Service, within the framework of article 74, numeral 15, of the COPLAFIP. The ministry’s General Legal Coordination had issued its report in Memorandum No. MAE-COGEJ-2026-1502-ME.

Impact for Taxpayers and Importers

The combination of the decree and the lists defines, as of November 12, 2026, which local purchases of electrical equipment are exempt from VAT and which imports are released from the ISD. To avail themselves of the benefit, taxpayers and importers must verify that their good is expressly listed in the annexes, as the regulation and the agreement exclude any extensive interpretation and refer control to the tax and customs authorities.

Source: Official Registry, Fifth Supplement No. 407, November 11, 2026, p. 2 (official reference: Executive Decree No. 530).