Ecuador
Republic of Ecuador
- Online sports bettingRegulated
- Online casinoProhibited
- Online pokerProhibited
- Land-based (reference)Prohibited
- Regulator
- Sports authority (Ministerio del Deporte) for licensing; Servicio de Rentas Internas for taxation
- Headline tax
- 15% GGR
- Licence required
- Yes
- Last verified
- 5 Aug 2026
Summary
Ecuador is the odd one out. A popular consultation on 7 May 2011 prohibited casinos and gaming halls, Article 236 of the criminal code made operating a gambling establishment punishable by one to three years imprisonment, and there have been no legal physical casinos since. Yet online sports predictions have been brought inside the tent. From 1 July 2024 the State charged a unique income tax of 15 per cent on the income of sports prediction operators, resident or not, deductible for prizes paid, with a further 15 per cent withheld on player winnings. Then, per reporting of the General Regulation to the Organic Law of Sport published in the Registro Oficial on 16 June 2026, a licence from the sports authority became the only enabling title for the activity, running up to five years at an annual cost of 655 unified basic salaries, roughly USD 315,710. Everything else online, casino, slots and poker, stays prohibited.
Key facts
- Regulator
- Sports authority (Ministerio del Deporte) for licensing; Servicio de Rentas Internas for taxation
- Regulator type
- Government ministry
- Headline tax
- 15% GGR
- Licence required
- Yes
- Minimum age
- Not yet verified
- Tax base
- A unique income tax of 15 per cent on income received by sports prediction operators, resident and non-resident in Ecuador, from which operators may deduct the prizes paid on which they carried out the corresponding withholding at source. Applied from 1 July 2024, administered by the SRI with monthly declarations, and with resident operators also filing an annual consolidated return. Because the base is income received less prizes paid, it functions as a gross-gaming-revenue tax, but the precise deductibility conditions matter and should be checked against the regulation before modelling.
- Capital
- Quito
- Currency
- USD
- Official languages
- Spanish
Licensing
- Licence required
- Yes
- Application window
- Not yet verified
- Local establishment required
- Yes
- Local server required
- Not yet verified
- Barriers to entry
- Price and scope. The reported annual licence cost of 655 unified basic salaries, around USD 315,710, is high for a market of Ecuador size and is an annual charge rather than a one-off, which will concentrate the market among a small number of operators. Reporting also says Ecuadorian companies must have sports betting expressly within their corporate purpose and foreign companies must show legal domiciliation in Ecuador. Nothing in the regime opens online casino: an operator wanting more than sports predictions has no route.
Licence types
Licence for the operation of sports predictions (licencia de operacion de pronosticos deportivos)
- Scope
- Reported as the only enabling title for offering sports predictions in Ecuador, issued by the sports authority. It does not extend to online casino, slots or poker, which remain prohibited.
- Term
- Up to five years, renewable, per trade reporting of the regulation
- Fee basis
- Annual cost reported at 655 unified basic salaries, about USD 315,710 for 2026 and USD 307,850 for 2025
Taxation
- Headline GGR tax
- 15% GGR
- Effective date
- 1 Jul 2024
- Player winnings tax
- Player prizes are taxed at 15 per cent income tax, withheld and paid to the treasury by the sports prediction operator.
- Tax base
- A unique income tax of 15 per cent on income received by sports prediction operators, resident and non-resident in Ecuador, from which operators may deduct the prizes paid on which they carried out the corresponding withholding at source. Applied from 1 July 2024, administered by the SRI with monthly declarations, and with resident operators also filing an annual consolidated return. Because the base is income received less prizes paid, it functions as a gross-gaming-revenue tax, but the precise deductibility conditions matter and should be checked against the regulation before modelling.
Enforcement
- ISP blocking
- Not yet verified
- DNS blocking
- Not yet verified
- Payment blocking
- Not yet verified
- App store takedowns
- Not yet verified
- Criminal penalties
- Reported as one to three years imprisonment under Article 236 of the Comprehensive Organic Criminal Code for administering or operating a betting house, rising to three to five years where the activity is run for profit while simulating non-profit operation. Taken from secondary reporting and academic sources; the article text was not read at review.
Outlook
The interesting question is whether a country that banned casinos by referendum can sustain a licensed online sports betting market alongside that ban, and at that price. Watch how many operators actually take the licence at 655 basic salaries a year, whether the reform by Executive Decree 445 of July 2026 loosens the conditions, and what happens to the offshore casino traffic that the sports-only carve-out leaves untouched. Also watch any renewed attempt to re-legalise land-based casinos, which has been floated more than once and has so far gone nowhere.
Frequently asked questions
- Are casinos legal in Ecuador?
- No. The popular consultation of 7 May 2011 prohibited casinos and gaming halls, and Article 236 of the criminal code punishes operating a gambling establishment with imprisonment. There have been no legal physical casinos since.
- Is online betting legal in Ecuador?
- Sports predictions are. They have been taxed at 15 per cent since 1 July 2024 and, per reporting of the 2026 sports regulation, require a licence from the sports authority. Online casino, slots and poker remain prohibited.
Sources
- Boletin NAC-COM-24-033, Impuesto a la Renta Unico a los Operadores de Pronosticos Deportivos
Servicio de Rentas Internas (SRI), Ecuador
Tier 1Accessed 5 Aug 2026Published 28 Jun 2024 - Impuesto a la Renta Unico a los Operadores de Pronosticos Deportivos
Servicio de Rentas Internas (SRI), Ecuador
The SRI landing page lists the legal basis (Chapter VII-A of the Ley de Regimen Tributario Interno, Executive Decree 313 of 27 June 2024 and Resolution NAC-DGERCGC24-00000029 of 31 July 2024) but does not state a rate. The 15 per cent figure comes from the SRI bulletin, which is also Tier 1.
Tier 1Accessed 5 Aug 2026 - Ecuador promulga el reglamento de la Ley del Deporte: licencias obligatorias, control antilavado y nuevas reglas para los pronosticos deportivos
Focus Gaming News
Returned HTTP 403 on direct fetch and was read only through search results. Reporting also differs on which decree carries the licensing rules: some sources attribute the framework to Executive Decree 487 of 19 December 2024 and others to Executive Decree 422 published on 16 June 2026, with Executive Decree 445 of 10 July 2026 reforming it. The 2026 regulation is treated here as the current licensing instrument and the 2024 decree as the tax-side reform, because that is what the SRI legal basis supports.
Tier 3Accessed 5 Aug 2026 - La licencia como unico titulo habilitante para la operacion de pronosticos deportivos en Ecuador
NMS Law (Ecuador)
Confirms the licence covers pronosticos deportivos and references Executive Decree 445 of 10 July 2026, and does not mention online casino, slots or poker being licensable. It did not quote the regulation articles at the depth needed to verify the term and cost, which are carried from trade reporting instead.
Tier 3Accessed 5 Aug 2026Published 13 Jul 2026 - Estos son los nuevos requisitos que deben cumplir las empresas dedicadas a pronosticos deportivos en Ecuador
Primicias
Surfaced through search results rather than read in full at review.
Tier 4Accessed 5 Aug 2026 - Ecuador ratifica la prohibicion de casinos y juegos de azar
SoloAzar Latinoamerica
Surfaced through search results rather than read in full at review.
Tier 3Accessed 5 Aug 2026 - La regulacion de las apuestas en Ecuador y el futuro de la industria
La Republica EC
Surfaced through search results rather than read in full. Used for the 2011 consultation result and the Article 236 penalty range, neither of which was verified against the Registro Oficial or the criminal code text at review.
Tier 4Accessed 5 Aug 2026Published 29 May 2026