Tax residency for foreigners in Colombia

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In order to avoid future contingencies before the Tax Administration, these are the criteria you should verify to know if you are obliged to comply with the formal duty to file the income tax return in Colombia and not have to bear the risk of not complying with these obligations. Please note that on August 6 the deadlines to file and/or pay your income tax return begin.

In Colombia, both residents and non-residents must file the income tax return, as they comply with some considerations.

How to know if you are a resident in Colombia for tax purposes?

A. If you are a foreigner, but between 2017 and 2018, you stayed continuously or intermittently for more than 183 days in Colombia, in a period of 365 days -for which we suggest you check your passport- you become a Colombian Tax Resident, regardless of your country of origin, and therefore, you will be obliged to file the income tax return for the 2018 tax year.

B. If you are Colombian and you have been absent from the country, but you meet at least one of the following points: 

• Between 2017 and 2018 you entered the country and stayed continuously or intermittently for more than 183 days, in a period of 365 days -for which we suggest you check your passport- you become a Colombian Tax Resident.
• Your spouse or permanent partner (not legally separated) or your dependent minor children have tax residency in Colombia.
• Fifty percent (50%) or more of your income comes from a national source.
• Fifty percent (50%) or more of their assets are managed in Colombia.
• Fifty percent (50%) or more of its assets are understood to be owned in Colombia.
• Having been required by the Tax Administration to do so, the condition of tax resident abroad is not accredited.
• Having tax residence in a jurisdiction qualified by the National Government as a "tax haven".
• However, if you comply with any of the above points, but at least one of the following 2 points applies to you, you will not be a Tax Resident.
• That fifty percent (50%) or more of your annual income originates in the jurisdiction in which you are domiciled.
• That fifty percent (50%) or more of your assets are located in the jurisdiction where you are domiciled.

 What information should you report on your income tax return?

Under this condition of Resident, you must report to the Tax Administration all the information related with:

1. your assets (real estate, vehicles, bank accounts, investments, among others) that you own both in Colombia and abroad.

2. Income received in Colombia and abroad.

Keep in mind that, on the income declared abroad, you will be able to impute the related costs and expenses taking into account the limits established in the tax regulations and deduct the tax paid abroad on that income.

What if according to the above points I am not a Tax Resident, should I file the income tax return?

If you are not a Tax Resident in Colombia, you must file your income tax return, only informing the Tax Administration of the following:

1. Your assets (real estate, vehicles, bank accounts, investments, among others) that you own only in Colombia.

2. Only the income received in Colombia.

When the totality of the income received in Colombia has been subject to withholding at the source for payments abroad, you should not file the return in Colombia.

What is the deadline to file the income tax return?

This deadline depends on the last 2 digits of the NIT (Tax Identification Number) assigned to you at the time of registration in the RUT (Registro Integral Tributario), from August 6 until October 17, 2019.

What happens if I do not file the income tax return?

The tax authorities have 5 years to investigate you and initiate a sanctioning process for not filing the income tax return. In addition, according to the provisions of article 4348 of the Penal Code, you could incur in a crime of tax fraud.

What happens if I file it after the deadline? 

You will be imposed a penalty for untimeliness calculated on the tax, income or patrimony, as the case may be.