The Tax Legal Regime for Cryptocurrencies in Ecuador

Abstract

In Ecuador, the use of cryptocurrencies in the execution of transactions of a diverse nature is increasing. At the time, traditionally, society and its phenomena evolve faster than the law. Faced with the occurrence of new events, which by virtue of their importance and legal implications need to be regulated, the legislator faces the task of adapting the law to these new manifestations being
necessary to do it so effectively. In our country, there is not a currently law about the performance of operations carried out with
cryptocurrencies. This essay aims to analyze whether the existing regulatory framework becomes sufficient to force the taxpayer to pay taxes on the executed transactions. Any review of the exiguity or sufficiency of the regulatory framework already in force, needs to begin establishing what is the legal nature attributable to cryptocurrencies, as a neural point for determining the applicable law to
it. Based on this premise, the present study develops the attributes that characterize a cryptocurrency. Once this argument is clarified, it covers the operations executed analyzing if they are or are not taxed with any or some of the legally taxes established in Ecuador. In conclusion, the income from transactions carried out of cryptocurrencies are, in fact, taxed in the way set out below.

Keywords
Cryptocurrencies, bitcoin, crypto assets, taxation, Tax Law.