Is the Ecuadorian Dividend Taxation Regime Sustainable under OECD Standards? A Comparative Analysis (2010–2025)
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.29076/issn.2528-7737vol19iss51.2026pp155-168pKeywords:
Dividends, economic double taxation, tax neutrality, OECDAbstract
This article examines the evolution of Ecuador’s dividend taxation regime over a fifteen-year period marked by a sequence of substantive reforms that reshaped the tax treatment of capital income. The study adopts a legal-economic and quantitative approach to assess the sustainability of the regime in light of OECD standards, considering not only taxation at the shareholder level but also the cumulative impact of deductions and levies that reduce corporate profits. Using a Monte Carlo simulation, the study estimates that the effective cumulative burden on distributable profits ranges from 40.33% to 47.37%. The findings show that, despite the reform introduced in 2025, the Ecuadorian system remains insufficiently integrated between corporate taxation and dividend taxation, thereby fostering scenarios of economic over-taxation, weakening tax neutrality, and potentially generating distortions in reinvestment, dividend distribution policy, and competitiveness
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