Taxation in Colombia
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:''See
Government of Colombia The Government of Colombia is a republic with separation of powers into executive, judicial and legislative branches. Its legislature has a congress, its judiciary has a supreme court, and its executive branch has a president. The citiz ...
for a broader perspective of Colombian government.'' Taxation in Colombia is determined by the
Congress of Colombia The Congress of the Republic of Colombia ( es, Congreso de la República de Colombia) is the name given to Colombia's bicameral national legislature. The Congress of Colombia consists of the 108-seat Senate, and the 188-seat Chamber of Repre ...
, every Department Assembly and every
City Council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural counc ...
, which determine what kind of taxes can be levied and which rates can be applied. The country inherited a harsh and diffused
taxation A tax is a compulsory financial charge or some other type of levy imposed on a taxpayer (an individual or legal entity) by a governmental organization in order to fund government spending and various public expenditures (regional, local, o ...
policy from the
Spanish Empire The Spanish Empire ( es, link=no, Imperio español), also known as the Hispanic Monarchy ( es, link=no, Monarquía Hispánica) or the Catholic Monarchy ( es, link=no, Monarquía Católica) was a colonial empire governed by Spain and its prede ...
characterized by a heavy reliance on customs duties.


National taxes

National taxes are administered by the
National Directorate of Taxes and Customs National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...
( es, Dirección de Impuestos y Aduanas Nacionales, DIAN). Some of these taxes include:


VAT

The
value-added tax A value-added tax (VAT), known in some countries as a goods and services tax (GST), is a type of tax that is assessed incrementally. It is levied on the price of a product or service at each stage of production, distribution, or sale to the en ...
(VAT) is the main indirect tax. This rose to 19 percent in 2017; up to the end of 2016 the tax was 16 percent of the price of merchandise, goods and services with some exceptions:
public transportation Public transport (also known as public transportation, public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) is a system of transport for passengers by group travel systems available for use by the general public unlike private transport, typical ...
, water supply and sanitation and the transportation of
natural gas Natural gas (also called fossil gas or simply gas) is a naturally occurring mixture of gaseous hydrocarbons consisting primarily of methane in addition to various smaller amounts of other higher alkanes. Low levels of trace gases like carbo ...
and
hydrocarbons In organic chemistry, a hydrocarbon is an organic compound consisting entirely of hydrogen and carbon. Hydrocarbons are examples of group 14 hydrides. Hydrocarbons are generally colourless and hydrophobic, and their odors are usually weak or e ...
. The DIAN recognizes two separate categories (''regimenes'') of VAT: common and simplified. The first refers to businesses with estimated patrimony over 68 million Colombian pesos (about 34,000 USD), and the second refers to those with patrimony less than that. Although both are obligated to pay the same percentage, the simplified taxpayers are not obligated to conduct separate bookkeeping for the VAT or to generate invoices.


Financial transactions tax A financial transaction tax (FTT) is a levy on a specific type of financial transaction for a particular purpose. The tax has been most commonly associated with the financial sector for transactions involving intangible property rather than rea ...

A 0.4% tax rate is imposed on all financial transactions, including withdraw money from ATM, promissory notes, wire transfers, internet banking, bank drafts and bank checks, money on term deposit, overdrafts, installment loans, securities underwriting commitments and other forms of off-balance sheet exposures, safekeeping of documents and other items in safe deposit boxes, currency exchange or unit trusts.


Patrimony tax

This tax requires the annual payment of 1% of the total patrimony of people with patrimony estimated over 5 thousand million pesos (about 1,4 million USD as of February 2021).


Income tax An income tax is a tax imposed on individuals or entities (taxpayers) in respect of the income or profits earned by them (commonly called taxable income). Income tax generally is computed as the product of a tax rate times the taxable income. Tax ...

*''Corporations:'' Income tax ( es, Impuesto a la renta y complementarios) must be paid by all local and foreign corporations operating in Colombia, who are subject to a corporate tax of 30%.Estatuto Tributario colombiano. Art. 240
Estatuto Tributario Nacional
*''Individuals:'' Colombian citizens and foreign nationals who have lived in Colombia for more than 183 days total in any 365 day period not necessarily a calendar year, are considered to be tax residents (residentes fiscales) and are thereafter subject to individual Income tax based on a system of graduated marginal tax rates. The table below shows the tax rate in units of UVT (''Unidad de Valor Tributario''), in which 1 UVT = $33,156 COP for 2018. See UVT. ::


Income declaration

In Colombia the natural persons who must present income declaration are classified on the next table. :: For 2019 are: * Natural person with
gross asset value The Gross Asset Value (GAV) is the sum of value of property a company owns. Besides the net asset value, the GAV is a common KPI for property funds to measure the success of the fund manager. External links Definition of GAV by SECref> See ...
upper $149,202,000 COP. (4500 UVT) * Natural persons with
gross revenue In accounting, revenue is the total amount of income generated by the sale of goods and services related to the primary operations of the business. Commercial revenue may also be referred to as sales or as turnover. Some companies receive reven ...
upper $46,418,000 COP per year. (1400 UVT) * Natural person with
incomes Income is the consumption and saving opportunity gained by an entity within a specified timeframe, which is generally expressed in monetary terms. Income is difficult to define conceptually and the definition may be different across fields. For ...
upper 3,868,166 COP /monthly (
Earnings Earnings are the net benefits of a corporation's operation. Earnings is also the amount on which corporate tax is due. For an analysis of specific aspects of corporate operations several more specific terms are used as EBIT (earnings before intere ...
$46,418,000 per year). (1400 UVT) * Consumes and
purchases Purchasing is the process a business or organization uses to acquire goods or services to accomplish its goals. Although there are several organizations that attempt to set standards in the purchasing process, processes can vary greatly betwee ...
upper $46,418,000 (1400 UVT) * If consumes through
credit card A credit card is a payment card issued to users (cardholders) to enable the cardholder to pay a merchant for goods and services based on the cardholder's accrued debt (i.e., promise to the card issuer to pay them for the amounts plus the o ...
exceeds $46,418,000 (1400 UVT) * If cumulative value of banking deposits,
wire transfer Wire transfer, bank transfer, or credit transfer, is a method of electronic funds transfer from one person or entity to another. A wire transfer can be made from one bank account to another bank account, or through a transfer of cash at a cash ...
or
financial investment Investment is the dedication of money to purchase of an asset to attain an increase in value over a period of time. Investment requires a sacrifice of some present asset, such as time, money, or effort. In finance, the purpose of investing i ...
, exceeds $46,418,000 COP. (1400 UVT) See UVT.


Payroll taxes

Both the employer and the employee are subject to monthly payroll taxes from the employee's gross salary, as follows: * Employer: ** Health plan - 8.5% ** Occupational risk - 0.348% - 8.7% ** ICFB (''Instituto Colombiano de Bienestar Familiar;'' Family Welfare) - 3% ** CAJA (''Cajas de compensación familiar;'' Family compensation funds) - 4% ** SENA (National Occupational Training Service) - 2% ** Pension fund - 12% ** Vacation - 4.17% * Employee: ** Health plan - 4% ** Pension fund - 4%


Local taxes

The local taxes are fixed by Local Councils through Acuerdos. This group of taxes includes: * ''Impuesto a ganadores de loterías:'' Tax on lottery winnings * ''Impuesto a loterías foráneas:'' Tax on out-of-state lottery tickets * ''Impuesto al consumo de cervezas, sifones y refajos:'' Tax on
beer Beer is one of the oldest and the most widely consumed type of alcoholic drink in the world, and the third most popular drink overall after water and tea. It is produced by the brewing and fermentation of starches, mainly derived from ce ...
* ''Impuesto al consumo de licores, vinos, aperitivos y similares:'' Tax on liquor * ''Impuesto al consumo de cigarrillos:'' Tax on
cigarettes A cigarette is a narrow cylinder containing a combustible material, typically tobacco, that is rolled into thin paper for smoking. The cigarette is ignited at one end, causing it to smolder; the resulting smoke is orally inhaled via the opp ...
* ''Impuesto al consumo de gasolina:'' Tax on
gasoline Gasoline (; ) or petrol (; ) (see ) is a transparent, petroleum-derived flammable liquid that is used primarily as a fuel in most spark-ignited internal combustion engines (also known as petrol engines). It consists mostly of organi ...
* ''Degüello de ganado mayor:'' Tax on slaughterhouses * ''Impuesto de registro:'' Tax to register academic degrees, patents, names, etc. * ''Impuesto sobre vehículos automotores:'' Tax on
automobile A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primarily on roads, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport people instead of goods. The year 1886 is regarde ...
s * ''Impuesto de industria y comercio:'' Tax on industrial, services or commercial establishments The local council on each city fix the rate between this parameters:Art. 33 Ley 43 de 1983 * From 2 up to 7 per mil (0.2-0.7%) for industrial activities * From 2 up to 10 per mil (0.2-1.0%) for commercial and services. * ''Impuesto de avisos y tableros:'' Tax on
advertising Advertising is the practice and techniques employed to bring attention to a product or service. Advertising aims to put a product or service in the spotlight in hopes of drawing it attention from consumers. It is typically used to promote a ...
* ''Impuesto predial:''
Property Tax A property tax or millage rate is an ad valorem tax on the value of a property.In the OECD classification scheme, tax on property includes "taxes on immovable property or net wealth, taxes on the change of ownership of property through inhe ...


Tax Value Unit

UVT (Unidad de Valor Tributario) means Tax Value Unit. Instead of setting a range in Colombian pesos, DIAN has the UVT value which represents a variable amount of pesos, and is updated at least every year. The next table shows the variation of this index in Colombia per year. ::


References


External links


Taxes in Colombia
Official Investment Portal

Impuestos en Colombia {{DEFAULTSORT:Taxation In Colombia Taxation in Colombia, Finance in Colombia