SRI September Projection Window Reopens a Withholding Lever for Qualifying Employees

Ecuador's Internal Revenue Service (SRI) has opened a September window for qualifying dependent employees to update the personal-expense projection used in income-tax withholding. The threshold reported is more than USD 12,208 annually or USD 1,017.33 monthly.

The deadline is September 30, 2026. The update applies to the projection employees submitted to their employers in February. It can modify projected expenses or the number of family dependents recorded for the income-tax calculation.

What changes in the calculation

An updated projection allows the employer to recalculate monthly withholding. A higher projection of personal expenses can reduce the amount withheld from the employee each month, according to the report.

This is a cash-flow and compliance mechanism, not a published universal refund rule. The source does not give a refund amount and does not state that every foreign worker qualifies. The employment and income conditions remain part of the eligibility test.

The expense categories identified include:

Category	Included in report
Core categories	Food; education; art and culture; health; clothing; housing
Conditional category	National tourism at registered establishments
Additional categories	Pet food and health; interest on unsecured loans

Timing and dependent rules

Employees submit the initial projection in February. The rules provide additional update opportunities in June and September, according to tax expert Idrián Estrella. The reported windows do not prevent an employee from submitting a new projection later if salary or family circumstances change.

The listed family-dependent rules cover parents, a spouse, a partner in a legally recognized domestic partnership, and children through the year they turn 21. Children and people with disabilities of any age may also qualify when the stated conditions are satisfied.

Dependents must rely economically on the employee and remain below the applicable taxable-income limit. The same person cannot be listed as a dependent by more than one taxpayer.

Substantiation is the control point

The projection is a good-faith statement about expenses the employee expects to incur. Those projected expenses must later be supported with invoices or sales receipts. The source emphasizes that entering a figure is not enough; the expense must actually occur and be documentable.

The follow-up arrives in February 2027, when the employee must submit the personal-expense annex for fiscal year 2026 through the SRI's online portal using the taxpayer's access key.

If the employer withheld less tax based on expenses that cannot ultimately be justified, the employee could owe the difference at final settlement. That creates an important distinction for payroll and HR teams: a lower monthly withholding amount does not eliminate the documentation obligation.

For employers, the operational task is receiving and recalculating valid updates. For employees, the task is aligning the projection with expenses that can be supported in the later annex.

What to watch

• The September 30, 2026 update deadline.
• Whether employee projections changed after the February filing.
• Retention of invoices and sales receipts for projected expenses.
• The February 2027 SRI annex for fiscal year 2026.
• Any withholding difference created by expenses that cannot be substantiated.

Source: Primicias