Human Resources and Business Office 

Banking Information

Foreign Hire teachers are authorized to have a portion of their salary be paid locally by direct deposit into a local bank account in the bolivianos currency.  The remaining portion of their salary, overseas allowance bonus, and any extra stipends (coaching, department heads, etc.) are paid in USD $ into an American account provided that the account accepts transfers from a TD Service called Automated Clearing House (ACH) from its account in TD Bank. To be able to receive electronic transfers, you must turn in a voided check to the ACS Business Office.

For accounts outside TD Bank to participate in this TD Bank Service, your bank or other financial institution must accept (ACH) credits and/or debits to that account. If you have a question about your institution’s ACH capabilities, please contact the institution directly.

Do not forget to bring a voided check with you!

To open your Bolivian bank account, you will need to fill out and sign the bank forms. The administration will help you throughout this process. After this process, you will receive a debit card that can be used in more than 50 ATMs in La Paz without charge, as well as other ATMs for a small fee.  

Teachers can use credit cards in stores and restaurants in Bolivia. You can use credit cards in ATMs. Check with your US bank for the transaction fee. (Average transaction fee 2.5% of the amount). You can take out money from your US account using US debit cards in Bolivia, but you may be subjected to multiple fees by your US bank and lose money based on a less favorable exchange rate due to Bolivian ATMs only being able to dispense Bs and not US Dollars. 

• Payment Schedule: The payroll will normally be issued on the last working Friday of the month. The overseas allowance bonus is divided equally into 2 installments; paid at the end of each semester.

• Insurance Information: ACS provides two different kinds of medical insurance for teachers.  One is a private local policy from Alianza and the other is a government run plan called “Caja Nacional”. ACS will help you with all the necessary paperwork for both of these insurance programs.  In order to be enrolled in the “Caja Nacional” all teachers must bring an original copy of their birth certificate.  ACS does not provide insurance for any dependents.

Alianza Local Medical Insurance

• • Benefits:

    • $15,000 annual benefit maximum individually - relieves concern over limited coverage (enough for a major surgery in the best hospital with the best doctors in La Paz..

    • Emergency Room Treatment - covers standard emergency room expenses. 

    • Maternity benefit of $5,000. 

    • Dental care with the insurance’s network of dentists.

  • Terms:

    • No Deductible

    • Co-payment: 20%

    • Vision up to $200.00 a year (enough for prescription and a new pair of glasses)

WORK VISA

ACS will arrange and work with the teacher during the first month to procure a temporary work visa.  The process of receiving a temporary work visa can require up to six different trips to different governmental offices and teachers will have to submit to medical checks and blood tests.

IT IS HIGHLY RECOMMENDED THAT YOU ENSURE THAT YOUR PASSPORT IS VALID FOR THE ENTIRE PERIOD OF YOUR CONTRACT TO AVOID RENEWALS AND ADDITIONAL FINES AND FEES THAT ARE THE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE TEACHER.

Social Contributions and Taxes

Income in Bolivia is subject to social contributions, and the revenue tax.

• Social Contributions: Social contributions are mandatory in Bolivia. The institution that manages the retirement program is called AFP Administrador de Fondo de Pensiones (Pension Funds Manager, in English). The rate is approximately 13% of the monthly salary and this will be automatically deducted from regular monthly payments.  

These deductions from the monthly salary go to an individual fund that is managed and invested by the AFP on your behalf and the employee can claim these funds at the age of 58.

All teachers are enrolled in the CAJA NACIONAL,  a national health insurance plan.  In order to enroll the teacher, the teacher must bring an original copy of their birth certificate.

*Please schedule a meeting with the Business Manager for more information.

• Taxes: All staff must pay a revenue tax called RC-IVA or Complement Regime of Value Added Tax, in English.  The rate of this tax is approximately 13% of your monthly income. This tax can be compensated or recuperated with your monthly purchases.  Here’s how it works:

• Formal commerce: Formal Commerce in Bolivia includes all businesses that have registered with the government, have a Tax I.D. number and pay taxes on each sale made. In order to show how much they’ve earned, they are supposed to issue a sales receipt each time they make a sale. This sales receipt is called a “factura”. Once you have purchased something and received your factura, there is a tax form that should be filled out monthly. This form contains all the information of your facturas and adds up the amount to be compensated in your taxes. Every factura that you receive for your purchases should have your Bolivian I.D. number on it.  

* If you have any questions on this matter please contact our HR Manager at hr-ext@acslp.org