The Universidad de Guayaquil has opened a new free assistance point for people needing help with procedures at Ecuador's Servicio de Rentas Internas (SRI), the national tax authority.
Window number two of the Núcleo de Apoyo Contable y Fiscal (NAF) became available starting Monday, offering tax guidance to both the university community and any citizen with questions about fiscal obligations.
Services available include tax filings and annexes, registration and updates to the Registro Único de Contribuyentes (RUC), electronic invoicing, password recovery, use of SRI's online services, VAT refunds for older adults and people with disabilities, and vehicle registration fee inquiries.
University and SRI partnership
Marco Suriaga, deputy dean of the Faculty of Administrative Sciences, said the service is possible thanks to joint work between the Universidad de Guayaquil and the SRI. He described it as teamwork between two public institutions serving citizens and Ecuador, with SRI staff, professors and trained students all taking part.
Lenin Chagerben, director of the Accounting and Auditing program, said students must pass courses taught by the SRI before joining the center as part of their pre-professional practice. He said seventh, eighth and ninth semester students will work rotating shifts during service hours, noting that no student comes unprepared, but rather one who completed the required process to serve the public.
Agreement dates to 2015
Diego Valenzuela, SRI's zonal director for Zone 8, said the project runs under an agreement signed with the Universidad de Guayaquil in 2015. He said the SRI continuously trains the professors responsible for the program, who then pass that knowledge to participating students.
Valenzuela said the goal is to bring tax services closer to citizens and reduce problems caused by unfamiliarity with fiscal obligations. He said the administration wants to increase awareness and prevent taxpayers from paying interest, fines and surcharges due to lack of knowledge.
He added that more than 1,500 citizens received assistance through this type of service between January and June 2026, and said he expects the program to keep growing with academic participation.
The window's opening was marked with a ribbon-cutting and the unveiling of a commemorative plaque, formally reinaugurating the university's Núcleo de Apoyo Contable y Fiscal. Starting Monday, window two will operate Monday through Friday during office hours.
