Income into Ecuador

Dear afieldhouse,

Welcome to the Ecuador forums of Expat.com ...

Although what you are planning is technically legal,

I don't recommend you send large sums to Ecuador

until you have identified a property and committed

to buying it. 

When I bought my Quito condo while living in the U.S.,

I sent moderate-size sums over a one-year period

to my property attorney in Ecuador, which he held

in his Ecuadorian equivalent of an escrow account

until we closed on the condo.

I recommend you hold off on the international transfers

until you obtain the national ID for extranjeros, known

as a cédula, for which the usual requirement is

getting approval for residency in Ecuador.

In general, the number-one rule for foreigners arriving

in South America is as follows...

Do not buy a home or property until you have lived

in the target area for at least a year.

---

When I was setting up a CD (paying 8 percent APY) in 2022 at 

Banco Guayaquil, I sent a series of $5,000 deposits

from my USA-based bank based on the per-deposit

maximum allowed by Banco.  I deposited each of my USA bank

personal checks at my local Banco branch and about

ten days later the money arrived in my Banco account.

---

Later, when I qualified for Social Security monthly income,

I arranged through the U.S. Embassy in Quito to have

the monthly payments automatically deposited

into my Banco account. 

cccmedia

Dear ccctvmedia - thank you for your reply which is informative. On rereading my original post I was not clear. My wife is an Ecuadorian native with dual British and Ecuardorian nationality who lives with me here in London. I have stepdaughters living in Quito who are native to Ecuador. 

I sent a large sum once via bank transfer and it was routed in manner that for me did not seem quite secure enough. I am intending to send smaller amounts every month for a few years, which my daughter will pick up in cash in Quito and put it into her personal bank account. In a few years my wfie may sell the house she currently owns in Quito and then add the saved money to buy a larger property.  My concern is any taxation that might be applied to the money I send which will sit in my daughter's bank account.

No tax for you.

I am not an accountant.

It seems to me that this is not income

for you, so you will not be liable for

taxation for sending the money into Ecuador.

For many years, Ecuador taxed

outgoing transfers that exceeded

$10,000 US.  That tax did not affect

money sent from the exterior

into Ecuador.  The outgoing-money tax

was phased out, but it is my understanding

that large transfers out of Ecuador

may still be taxed at a small tax percentage.

cccmedia