My understanding is it depends on what country you're coming from, for example I'm Canadian and all I needed to do is inquire about it from Canadian government website it does indicate that Canada and Ecuador have tax treaty agreements to prevent double taxation.
Having been to both the Garry Vacher's talk at Common Grounds and the one at Kolo with the accountants you have shown in your video, I will be using Garry Vacher's interpretation of the laws. He's been doing expat taxes for over 10 years while the accountant at Kolo seemed new to the expat tax game. Garry actually sited several places in the Ecuadorian tax code where they don't double tax income. That's good enough for me :)
I talked to a tax lawer here in Ecuador today and they told me that if I'm a tax resident in the US as all US citizens are you don't have to pay taxes in Ecuador on US based income but should get a 8802 filed incase the SRI ever ask "hey where is all this money coming from" but they also said that in not probable and that the SRI will almost certainly leave me alone. They did say if my remote job was based out of some tax haven and that I was not a US citizen THEN you would absolutely have to pay Ecuadorian taxes. So if you are a fiscal resident of another country and pay taxes there you should be good!
One point I want to mention is even if someone decides to rent in a building with a generator they should still have a UPS in their modem, router and any equipment they need to remain consistently powered. Sometimes a failover to generator power can take several minutes. If you have a UPS your devices are powered consistently for that length of time and when power is fully back. Also little surge protectors on anything plugged in is a really good idea and unplug things fully when you don’t intend to use them for a while. When power comes back on it can surge a bit some devices can take it just fine and others cannot. We haven’t had issues but other friends of ours have lost TVs and have had to have appliances repaired following these outages. Your points about how hard it is to conduct business without reliable electricity and internet are exactly points I’ve tried to impress on some other expats that have come to Ecuador. It can also affect people that rely on electricity for medical devices that they need just to exist. This affects locals and foreigners and empathy towards people so affected shouldn’t take someone actually being adversely affected themselves by it to understand that. That all said …. We’ve had a fair bit of rain the past few days. Huzzah!
Good content Jason. Hopefully the government is looking for longer term, and developing alternate means of electricity generation. With the amount and intensity of available sunlight solar generation should be seriously explored. Now with the trade agreement with China, investment in that sector may be more attainable and affordable.
Ecuador faces persistent cloud cover throughout the year. It's not uncommon to only have an hour or two of full sun per day. On the coast, sometimes you won't see the sun for a week
Thanks for an informative video! I'm currently on the coast near Manta and have discussed with my family the possibility moving to Cuenca. The number of murders currently taking place on the coast is becoming unacceptable. Also on the table is the possibility of a move to Spain, via citizenship by descent. I know it's a long shot but does anyone have thoughts on Cuenca vs Spain? Thanks very much in advance!
I love Spain, but haven't been for many years so can't really comment. Our next video is comparing San Miguel de Allende (Mexico) to Cuenca. Hopefully at some point we'll get to Spain to do a similar video. Feel free to say hello if you do end up making a move to Cuenca!
So, if we live in Cuenca and want to travel somewhere with stable internet and electricity so we can work online, where do we go??? Columbia or Peru?? If we get a UPS, will that work on our modem, doesn't the power company shut the internet off when they turn off the electric? I would like to know more about tax.
Hi Thomas - chances are you won't need to go anywhere if you choose an apartment with a generator that supplies apartments (not just common areas/elevators). If so, your biggest impact is losing 15 seconds between when the power turns off and the generator kicks in. If this 15 seconds is important to you, then a UPS will ensure no power loss. Peru and Colombia do use separate grids, so yes, I do think it's unlikely that all 3 countries would face similar electricity issues at the same time. Internet companies don't turn off the power. But, as I suggesed in the video, I did have issues with the mobile phone data signal being poor after a few hours as I assume the tower batteries last this long.
There's numerous options Valerie. Lots of the smaller, family-run computer shops like this one have them (CompuMercado: maps.app.goo.gl/KrG6s5waLJnpdfC99). But, you can also find them in the large chains (Coral, MegaMaxi etc). Or even FB Marketplace (but beware of scammers).
Kind of. YapaTree Properties deliberately only works with a few trusted listing agents. In an unregulated market, we take the trust part very seriously. I (Jason) also work as a buyers agent largely for the same reason - to ensure clients that work with us have a safe, fair transaction.
My understanding is it depends on what country you're coming from, for example I'm Canadian and all I needed to do is inquire about it from Canadian government website it does indicate that Canada and Ecuador have tax treaty agreements to prevent double taxation.
Great that you have the certainty you need on this issue :) That's the point of this video. Everyone's required certainty levels are different.
Having been to both the Garry Vacher's talk at Common Grounds and the one at Kolo with the accountants you have shown in your video, I will be using Garry Vacher's interpretation of the laws. He's been doing expat taxes for over 10 years while the accountant at Kolo seemed new to the expat tax game. Garry actually sited several places in the Ecuadorian tax code where they don't double tax income. That's good enough for me :)
Thanks for sharing Jeff. I also appreciated Garry's insights on taxes.
I talked to a tax lawer here in Ecuador today and they told me that if I'm a tax resident in the US as all US citizens are you don't have to pay taxes in Ecuador on US based income but should get a 8802 filed incase the SRI ever ask "hey where is all this money coming from" but they also said that in not probable and that the SRI will almost certainly leave me alone. They did say if my remote job was based out of some tax haven and that I was not a US citizen THEN you would absolutely have to pay Ecuadorian taxes. So if you are a fiscal resident of another country and pay taxes there you should be good!
Thanks for your input! That's how I interpret these tax rules too :)
One point I want to mention is even if someone decides to rent in a building with a generator they should still have a UPS in their modem, router and any equipment they need to remain consistently powered. Sometimes a failover to generator power can take several minutes. If you have a UPS your devices are powered consistently for that length of time and when power is fully back.
Also little surge protectors on anything plugged in is a really good idea and unplug things fully when you don’t intend to use them for a while. When power comes back on it can surge a bit some devices can take it just fine and others cannot. We haven’t had issues but other friends of ours have lost TVs and have had to have appliances repaired following these outages.
Your points about how hard it is to conduct business without reliable electricity and internet are exactly points I’ve tried to impress on some other expats that have come to Ecuador. It can also affect people that rely on electricity for medical devices that they need just to exist. This affects locals and foreigners and empathy towards people so affected shouldn’t take someone actually being adversely affected themselves by it to understand that.
That all said …. We’ve had a fair bit of rain the past few days. Huzzah!
Valid points Derek. Thanks for sharing.
Well done. Nice vid.
Gracias Bob
Good content Jason. Hopefully the government is looking for longer term, and developing alternate means of electricity generation. With the amount and intensity of available sunlight solar generation should be seriously explored. Now with the trade agreement with China, investment in that sector may be more attainable and affordable.
Solar does seem like fertile territory for investment. Would love to see a little more diversity.
Ecuador faces persistent cloud cover throughout the year. It's not uncommon to only have an hour or two of full sun per day. On the coast, sometimes you won't see the sun for a week
You can upgrade your ups with a car battery.
Great to know. Potentially complicated though... I'd be scared of frying my electronics!
Thanks for an informative video! I'm currently on the coast near Manta and have discussed with my family the possibility moving to Cuenca. The number of murders currently taking place on the coast is becoming unacceptable. Also on the table is the possibility of a move to Spain, via citizenship by descent. I know it's a long shot but does anyone have thoughts on Cuenca vs Spain? Thanks very much in advance!
I love Spain, but haven't been for many years so can't really comment.
Our next video is comparing San Miguel de Allende (Mexico) to Cuenca. Hopefully at some point we'll get to Spain to do a similar video.
Feel free to say hello if you do end up making a move to Cuenca!
So, if we live in Cuenca and want to travel somewhere with stable internet and electricity so we can work online, where do we go??? Columbia or Peru?? If we get a UPS, will that work on our modem, doesn't the power company shut the internet off when they turn off the electric? I would like to know more about tax.
Hi Thomas - chances are you won't need to go anywhere if you choose an apartment with a generator that supplies apartments (not just common areas/elevators). If so, your biggest impact is losing 15 seconds between when the power turns off and the generator kicks in. If this 15 seconds is important to you, then a UPS will ensure no power loss.
Peru and Colombia do use separate grids, so yes, I do think it's unlikely that all 3 countries would face similar electricity issues at the same time.
Internet companies don't turn off the power. But, as I suggesed in the video, I did have issues with the mobile phone data signal being poor after a few hours as I assume the tower batteries last this long.
I live in Cuenca. Any ideas on where I can buy a UPS power unit ?
There's numerous options Valerie. Lots of the smaller, family-run computer shops like this one have them (CompuMercado: maps.app.goo.gl/KrG6s5waLJnpdfC99). But, you can also find them in the large chains (Coral, MegaMaxi etc). Or even FB Marketplace (but beware of scammers).
Thank you very much.
so YapaTree is like zillow?
Kind of. YapaTree Properties deliberately only works with a few trusted listing agents. In an unregulated market, we take the trust part very seriously.
I (Jason) also work as a buyers agent largely for the same reason - to ensure clients that work with us have a safe, fair transaction.
@@yapatree9495 Okay, awesome. I like the trusted brand angle. We will be in touch.
@@yapatree9495 Is it difficult to get a realtor license in Ecuador? What was your experience?
It's not difficult. But, I'd also argue there's very little value in it.