Job Discussion Forums

[al capone]

I have just been informed that you have to inform the SRI about your tax every half year.

Needless to say the organisation i work for told me nothing and now i might get a $130 fine .

I have been in Quito, ECUADOR since February.

I would really appreciate any help on this as the advice/info to date has been poor.

I was under the impression that teachers do not pay TAX although my organsiation has been deducting 10-15 % every month

thanks

ali

[HLJHLJ]

What kind of visa are you on? Are you paid via facturas?


On a work visa you have to submit a tax return every 6 months or every month depending on what it says on your original SRI document. It seems to be allocated randomly. We didn't realise that I was on the 6 month schedule and my husband was on a 1 month schedule. He got hit with 6 months worth of fines when we submitted them.

[al capone]

Thanks for the reply

I'm on a 12 VIII visa -Interercambio cultural

yes, I,m paid via facturas which i have been paying since June

do you think if I get down to the SRI this week i may not need to pay the fine??

cheers

ali

[HLJHLJ]

If you've always been on a cultural exchange visa, and the visa holder is your only employer (i.e. you aren't doing any other paid work on the side), you should NOT be paying any tax. Your employer should not be deducting it and you should not be using facturas. You will need to speak to SRi about it all, but if your employers are taking money off you as tax and not passing it on to SRi there could be serious repercussions for them, so depending on who you work for and your relationship with them, you may want to let them know you are going to speak to SRI before you go.

If you were on a 12-IX when you first arrived then you should have been paying taxes for that period (and been paid via factura).

I always found SRI to be very helpful, but they won't waive fines or interest charges. Not all SRI staff seem to know about the regulations for cultural exchange visas though, so make sure they really do understand what kind of visa you have. Very few speak any English.

We ended up in a total mess with it and had to pay an accountant to sort it out, we paid a few hundred dollars in fines and interest charges, plus the accountant fees on top. But then we were able to claim all the tax back at the end of the year (you can offset the cost of your rent and all your food bills; supermarket and restaurants, against your tax if you keep the facturas). So we ended up about $1,000 better off in the end, even after all the fines, etc.

If you go to see SRI you will need your copy of every factura you have used, and your book with the rest of the facturas in. They will check that every factura is accounted for. You should also have a tax receipt from your employer for every tax deduction you have made and the amount and tax category for it. You will need one of those for each payment as well.

Once you are up to date you can file online and it's very simple, but you can't register to file online if you are already in arrears.

I don't really understand the time frame you are working to, you've been in Ecuador since February, but you didn't get paid until June?

[al capone]

Thanks for the help

I am going to go down to the SRI on Thursday and see whats, what.

thanks again

[al capone]

Thanks for the help

I am going to go down to the SRI on Thursday and see whats, what.

thanks again

[lagringalindissima]

This thread was started two years ago, so there's nothing anyone can suggest to help the OP now--but here is some general advice..

Tip #1 ASK QUESTIONS before accepting the job!
Do I pay taxes? In 2012 the rules might have been different, but in 2014 you sign a promise to work for free to get the visa; in exchange the school signs a promise to "support the visa candidate financially". Thus I would have guessed you don't pay taxes.. because in the USA if you volunteer in exchange for just having your basic cost of living covered (but you aren't paid above the poverty level) I don't think you pay taxes.

When? How? How much? Can I deduct expenses like supplies I buy or my visa fees (if you pay for the visa..you probably will) from my taxes?

Do you have someone to help me with the process/paper work? This could be very important. I had a job at a K-12 private school and someone who spoke limited English but worked in Canada wanted my tax advice (since I know English). I said I can't help you.. I am from the USA and I know nothing about Canadian tax law; I even looked at the papers to see if I could "just tell her what to do"...but I could not. She was hysterical!

About the visa..
What is the total cost, including an estimate for travel expenses to get to another city (if you have to do that)?
What do I need to bring?
What EXACTLY will I do and what will happen? Tell me the step by step process.

Harder question..but a question that must be answered:
Is this visa REALLY legal for me to work on?
In 2014 the claim is that teachers can LEGALLY teach in Ecuador on a cultural exchange visa.. but I don't buy it for several reasons:

You agree to work for free; the school agrees to support you financially. This is actually not contradictory. If a non European goes to a professional conference or even teaches a class in Europe they can get paid for their food, travel expenses, work expenses and housing..they can NOT legally be paid a salary.

Salaried contracts..which are (DUH) what you typically expect in an ESL job, unless you will not work the same number of hours every month (i.e. you'd be a sub, you'll work part time and study Spanish part time and the number of hours you will work can vary, etc.) aren't legal..or that's the buzz on this board anyway.

If it's not legal, admit that and tell me what can happen if /we do have problems..will the school help me? Or maybe the school is "gaming the system" by giving me a rent free place to live and just enough money for me to buy my own food..but not more; if so, fine (assuming you "get" that not saving money or having travel money is the norm in Latin America).. just explain that.

Tip #2: Don't believe that the visa and taxes "aren't your employers problem" or be ashamed to pepper the school with questions.
Would you accept a job if they said "we don't know your salary yet..that will depend on many factors; but we'll work it out as fast as we can.."? No? Knowing the visa process, the tax process and the cost of the visa and taxes is just as key to knowing if the job is fair as knowing your salary..maybe even more so.

I never went to Latin America without a job lined up, but you should ask the same questions if you are applying for jobs face to face.


Tip #3: Be ready to quit-- and even get out of the country-- immediately if..

a) they don't explain the tax system to you and then refuse to pay the back taxes you owe (due to their failure to communicate) for you. (But in this case yes pay the taxes first...that sucks but it sucks less than not being let out of the country for owing back taxes-- or having a warrant out for your arrest.)

b) the job won't pay you

c) the job is dragging their feet on getting you the visa

I had a job in Mexico tell me we'd go in person on x date and do the visa paperwork; I said that is literally my LAST day to be here legally without a visa..that's my 90th day in the country. The school said "if they see we are in a hurry/time is of the essence in your case they'll process the visa faster..that's why it's better to wait". I left without telling them; I just flew home one day. I hated to just ditch my students like that, but they also weren't paying me.. so I had no choice.

d) it turns out the visa process/taxes aren't what they told you.

I had a job that failed to tell me I needed to bring 1,000 in cash to set up a bank account and didn't explain that I had to go to a dangerous town (alone) to leave my passport ..BYE .

Don't go to Latin America assuming you'll get paid well and have a 100% professional job, but don't be a doormat, either. If a job mistreats you, leave.

Tip #3: Learn some Spanish
a) It helps you get around.

b) It helps you get what you need done (i.e. create a bank account, find a place to live, talk to the parents of your unruly students) without having to find an interpreter.

c) It will help you make friends.

d) Believe it or not, in Latin America you often do need to use Spanish in class. Many students are absolute beginners, and even with Spanish controlling students 22 and under in Latin America is very hard. If you don't know Spanish.. good luck ! Students are used to being taught via translation..and if you want to say that's bad, I'd point out that Americans expect our foreign language teachers to use English in class, too! I've seen a teacher give up after 2 days..and she flew from China to accept the job. She had teaching experience and was a retiree-- but she knew she couldn't do anything with her classes without knowing any Spanish, and I think she was right. She had the higher level students, too.

e) I think ESL teachers over look a key point: If we are in front of them with the goal of teaching them a foreign language, showing them that we learned one (theirs) too makes us "good role models". I knew several teachers and even a school director who'd lived in Latin America for several years but spoke almost no Spanish..so how can you credibly teach them English if you'd been in their culture for several years but never bothered to learn their language?

Tip #4 Finally, if you aren't sure you can do it..due to money issues, not knowing Spanish, not trusting the visa process, or just not loving the idea of being in front of a class trying to teach while they talk in a language you don't know--then don't go. I am not willing to "try out" teaching in the Middle East iv exchange for a good salary and other perks like nice housing provided by the school. I just could not live in that culture..and (although of course being in the Middle East now is scary!) no one would ever suggest you just fly into Saudi Arabia and hit the ground running/start job hunting. I personally would be terrified to just fly into Latin America and start job hunting..and I am bilingual, I have teaching experience, and I know people in Latin America and know some cities reasonably well.