Wealth tax refund to RST taxpayers

After hearing this sharp reflection of a professor of mine of tax law at the Universidad Externado de Colombia and, finding it accurate and viable, I wanted to write this article to answer -sillogistically- the following question: does the refund of the wealth tax paid in 2019 by those who in such year opted for the Simple Taxation Regime (RST) apply?

Law 1943 of 2018 (Financing Law) established (again) the wealth tax indicating that, for the years 2019, 2020 and 2021 this would be created in charge of, among others: "natural persons, illiquid successions, taxpayers of income tax and complementary taxes (...)". Its generating fact was the possession of a patrimony of more than 5,000 million pesos as of January 1 of each of those years and its rate was 1%.

Simultaneously, the Financing Law created, as of January 1, 2019, the RST. This is an optional taxation model of integral determination that replaces the income tax. The law established that those who register as RST taxpayers would not be subject "to the ordinary income tax regime for the respective taxable year". Since 2019 was the first year of implementation, it was established that those who met the requirements to do so, could choose to register there until July 31 of that year. This deadline was extended (strangely and exceeding the law) by the regulatory decree 1468/2019, until September 16, 2019.

Following the declaration of unenforceability of the Financing Law, the Economic Growth Law (Law 2010/2019) was issued at the end of 2019, which established, once again, the wealth tax for the (remaining) years 2020 and 2021. As taxpayers of this tax were included, among others, "natural persons and illiquid inheritances, taxpayers of income tax and complementary taxes or income tax substitute regimes".

In Colombia, according to Article 1 of Decree 187 of 1975 "the tax year, period or fiscal year, in matters of income tax and complementary taxes, is the same calendar year that begins on January 1 and ends on December 31". Thus, if a taxpayer voluntarily opted for the RST during 2019 and, culminating such tax period (as of December 31, 2019) continued under this substitute regime, it is not possible to predicate that, for that tax year (2019), the same taxpayer was a taxpayer of income tax.

In this sense, since he was not a taxpayer of the income tax and complementary taxes for the 2019 period, he was not a taxpayer of the wealth tax for the 2019 period. Thus, what he had paid to the State for such concept, necessarily has to be considered as a payment of what is not due and can (and must) be requested to be refunded by the individuals under the RTS.