Colombia

An individual is a Colombian fiscal resident if present in the country, continuously or not, for an aggregate of 183 days within any 365-day period. A Colombian national is also resident if their spouse or dependants meet that 183-day presence, if 50% or more of their income or assets is Colombian-sourced or located in Colombia, if requested proof of foreign fiscal residency is not provided to DIAN, or if their fiscal residence is in a jurisdiction Colombia treats as a tax haven — unless 50% or more of their yearly income or assets is instead located where they are domiciled.

The tax year is the calendar year, and joint returns are not permitted. A salaried taxpayer must file an income tax return if year-end assets exceed 4,500 UVT, or if credit-card charges, cash purchases, bank deposits, or income for the year exceed 1,400 UVT (for a resident, these thresholds count assets and income both in Colombia and abroad); the filing season generally starts around August, with the exact deadline set by an annual December decree according to the last two digits of the taxpayer's tax ID.

Non-residents, whether Colombian nationals or foreigners, are taxed only on Colombian-sourced income. Dividend income paid to non-residents is taxed at a flat 20% (increased from a prior 10%); no single headline rate applies to non-resident income generally, since other categories follow their own separate withholding rules.

Employees may not deduct business expenses from employment income, though independent workers may elect to be treated as independent rather than as employees and claim deemed costs of 60% of gross income. Deductible items include mortgage interest (capped at 1,200 UVT annually), healthcare payments for the taxpayer, spouse, and children (capped at 16 UVT monthly), a dependant deduction (10% of gross labour income, capped at 32 UVT monthly, plus 72 UVT for each dependant beyond the first up to four), interest on ICETEX education loans (capped at 100 UVT annually), and donations to specifically listed categories of institutions; Colombia has no personal allowances.

Colombia's VAT filing frequency depends on the taxpayer's annual gross revenue as of the prior 31 December: businesses with revenue of 92,000 UVT (COP 4,818,408,000 for the 2026 tax year) or more file bimonthly, while those below that threshold file every four months; no VAT filing is required for periods with no inputs or outputs.

Colombia taxes certain goods at a 0% VAT rate, including meat, fresh eggs, dairy products, goods and services for export, and internet service for low-to-mid-income residential customers; separately, freight transportation, public passenger transportation, interest and other financial income from credit operations, and public utilities are VAT-exempt.

Colombia's Tax Statute treats profits from the disposal of shares listed on a Colombian stock exchange as neither ordinary income nor occasional gain, for a single beneficial owner, provided the disposal does not exceed 3% of the company's outstanding shares in the same tax year. The same treatment extends to gains from derivatives whose underlying is exclusively such listed shares.