The Rimpe generates confusion and surprise in some people who were included

The Simplified Regime for Entrepreneurs and Popular Businesses (Rimpe) generates confusion and surprise in some taxpayers to discover that they were included, without prior notice, in the cadastre of Internal rents service (SRI).

The SRI published the cadastre that includes popular businesses and ventures on their website. According to the regulations of the Economic Development and Fiscal Sustainability Law, the SRI will publish, on its web portal, until April of each year, as a reference, the list of taxpayers that would be included in the scope of this regime.

In the referential list there are 789,806 taxpayers who were added, because they register income up to $ 300,000.

Of this group 82%, that is, 645,887 taxpayers, corresponds to popular businesses. These are the ones with income from $ 0 to $ 20,000.

SRI published the registry of businesses and enterprises that will be subject to the Rimpe

The rest represent entrepreneurs with incomes of $ 20,001 to $ 300,000 and private non-profit institutions. The latter were included to benefit from the filing of semiannual returns and the other regulations related to the simplification of tax obligations.

Resolution NAC-DGERCGC21-00000060 specifies that the inclusion of these institutions in the new regime does not generate changes in their legal nature, nor do they lose the tax exemptions established in the current tax regulations.

The main characteristic of the scheme – and that is the greatest concern among taxpayers – is that those who are included in the list will pay the income tax (IR), according to a progressive table, on your gross income.

The tax table requires businesses that have income of up to $ 20,000 to pay, $ 60 a year. The payment fee ranges from $ 60 to $ 2,797. The highest amount applies when it is a segment that has income from $ 200,000 to $ 300,000.

The Rimpe, ‘a mix’ between RISE and RIM, generates expectations for its early entry into force

The subjects of the regime

The IR payment is something that worries micro-entrepreneurs like Margarita Mantilla, who has a travel agency called Recotur and who employs six people in Ibarra. She points out that, in 2021, she was part of the regime for microentrepreneurs (RIM) in which she had to cancel the Income tax of 2% on their gross income, despite recording losses due to the effects of the pandemic.

“I know we are in the new regime, it did not take me by surprise because my accountant told me; but we have not yet analyzed how it is going to affect us in this year in which we are still in recovery ”, says Mantilla.

The microentrepreneur emphasizes that there is very extensive information and that the IR settlement table does not address situations according to the line of business. For example, he explained, in his specific case of $ 1,000 that he comes to bill for an air ticket, almost $ 900 goes to the airline. “The gross income is not all of the company as it is an intermediary. Nobody says what happens with cases like ours ”.

Julio Asanza, who also owns the PJV Tours travel agency in Machala, agrees with Mantilla. He points out that despite having already been part of the previous regime, it generates doubts because he believes that it will be a cumbersome procedure. “The information is scarce and what there is is very technical for small businesses to understand,” he says.

For those who provide professional services and do not have workers in their charge, it is a surprise to be included in the cadastre.

Laura Medina monthly invoices about $ 850 for the concept of catalog item sales. The 49-year-old woman was also included in the RIM last year, however she could not request exclusion from that system in time because she did not know what the issue was about at the time.

Medina said that he found out that he was in the new regime this week. “The company’s accountant called us to explain that all of us who are part of the company can use our invoices until the checkbook runs out, but that we should send a stamp with the legend Taxpayer Rimpe Regime”.

Cindy Madero provides temporary services as an event presenter and presenter in Machala. For her, paying the treasury on the income she receives from these two activities, in addition to her work in a dependency relationship, creates a complication in the tax procedures that she carries out during the year.

A year, Madero says, he reaches an average billing of $ 1,500. She points out that, in 2021, she had to make a change in the reason for her Unique Taxpayer Registry (RUC) in order to get out of the old regime for microentrepreneurs in which she was also included. “I left one regime to enter another, I don’t understand how this new regime works, I don’t know what it means and there is unclear information. I feel affected because I have my RUC open just because there are people who ask me for an invoice ”.

Issues to be solved

For the tax expert Carlos LictoYes, there are certain gaps that can generate confusion for taxpayers, because they are not clarified either in the regulations or in the latest resolution of the SRI.

For example, he pointed out that there are people “in limbo”, such as those who were as entrepreneurs and now went to the general regime. “There should be clarity for those people who are not included in the Rimpe and go to the general regime from this year.”

Miguel Ángel González, president of the Guayaquil Chamber of Commerce, points out that there are three drawbacks detected in this new regime. The first is that companies will pay despite losing. The second problem is that taxpayers They are not being notified of their incorporation into the regime, which generates fines for ignorance of the obligations.

Finally, he points out, there is no exemption mechanism in case income falls due to external factors such as natural disasters, among others. (I)