What changes financially when you move to Ecuador?
Tick where your income comes from. You then see which rules Ecuador and the Netherlands apply to your situation: which country may tax you, which schemes exist and how you get insured. With the source, so you can check it yourself.
This applies to everyone who moves. Tick above what applies to you, and the rest will appear.
Which country may tax
Which part of your income may your new country of residence tax?
After 183 days Ecuador taxes your worldwide income
If you're in Ecuador for 183 days or more in a tax year, you're a tax resident there. Ecuador then taxes your income from Ecuador and from abroad.
Short absences count. 183 days within twelve months over two tax years can also make you a resident, unless you show that you're a tax resident elsewhere. Without a treaty the same income can thus be taxed in two countries. The deduction for foreign tax and the scheme for newcomers are in the scheme block.
- tax resident
- after 183 days in a tax year
Special regimes
Is there a favourable regime, and do you qualify?
Tax you paid in the Netherlands, you deduct in Ecuador
A resident of Ecuador who paid tax abroad on income from abroad may deduct it from the Ecuadorian tax on the same income.
The deduction is never higher than what Ecuador itself asks on that income. Without a treaty this is the only rule that limits double taxation. So keep the annual statements with the Dutch tax withheld every year.
- deduction
- up to the Ecuadorian amount on the same income
Health insurance
How do you get insured, and what do you pay for it?
The visa asks for health insurance for the whole duration
With the jubilado, the rentista and the digital nomad you hand in health insurance valid for the whole duration of the visa.
The policy may be Ecuadorian or foreign. A foreign policy states that it covers you in Ecuador. Because the IESS asks for a cédula, and you only get that after the visa, an international health insurance is usually the way at the application.
- duration of the policy
- the whole duration of the visa
As a resident you have public or private insurance
The migration law says that whoever lives in Ecuador has public or private insurance for illness, accidents and death.
A hospital may never refuse you in an emergency because of your nationality or your residence status. But for ordinary care you count on your own policy or on the IESS. Keep your policy until your affiliation is settled in black and white.
- statutory article
- article 52 Ley Orgánica de Movilidad Humana
What the Netherlands doesn't let go of
Which Dutch obligation travels with you?
Your AOW build-up stops on departure, repairing is possible within one year
Whoever goes to live outside the Netherlands is usually no longer insured for the AOW and the Anw. Every year you're not insured, you later get 2 percent less AOW.
This is about the build-up, not the payment. The treaty with Ecuador governs the payment. What you built up until your departure stays. If you leave before your AOW age, every year until that age costs 2 percent. With voluntary insurance with the SVB you close the gap. For that you have one year from the moment you're no longer insured. That applies to each member of a couple separately.
- reduction per uninsured year
- 2% of your AOW
- applying for voluntary insurance
- within 1 year
Your Dutch basic insurance ends on deregistration
Your basic insurance stops on the day you deregister. Your new policy only starts once the insurer has accepted you.
Without the CAK there's no safety net. If you postpone the insurance question until after the move, an insurer can refuse you or exclude things. And for the visa you already need the policy. So first arrange your cover, and only then take steps you can't undo. Make sure there's not a single day between the end date in the Netherlands and your first insured day.
Where this comes from: The list of treaty countries for healthcare (no CAK route) and the fixed emigration rule that the Zvw ends on deregistration.
Read the whole storyThis is not tax advice
These are the rules that apply to your situation. What they add up to is not shown here. With Ecuador it comes down to two treaties: one exists, the other doesn't. There is a treaty on the payment of benefits, so your AOW goes along in full, even if you go alone. There is no tax treaty. So the Netherlands keeps its taxation of your AOW, your pension and your annuity, and you get no tax credit. Ecuador taxes your worldwide income once you've been there 183 days, with a deduction for tax you already paid in the Netherlands. A newcomer can be taxed only on income from Ecuador for five years, if he meets the conditions within 120 days of entry. And instead of the CAK you need a policy of your own. Which combination you have decides your net monthly income. Take this list to a tax adviser who knows both countries.
Still deciding between countries? Put the rules of two or three countries side by side
Then actually doing it
Knowing which rules apply is the first half. The second is applying them in time: in the right order, without missing a deadline, and with your documents at hand.
Every step on one list, free
Not ready to start yet? Then you get the departure checklist for Ecuador: every step in order, to print and tick off. With it, five mails in a week and a half about the pitfalls and the real costs. If the rules for Ecuador change, you'll hear about it. After that we ask once where your plans stand, and now and then we send one thing that fits your moment. No newsletter, and you can switch it off at any time.