On December 28th, 2018 the Colombian Congress enacted the recent Tax Reform Bill. Colombian_Tax_Flash® summarizes the main changes introduced by the 2018 Tax Reform, in connection with:
(1) Corporate Income Tax: (1.1) Rate Reduction; (1.2) New Corporate Income Tax Surcharge for Financial Entities; (1.3) New Colombian Holding Companies Regime (1.4) Dividend Taxation; (1.5) Withholding Tax on Cross-Border Payments; (1.6) Permanent Establishment (“PE”) Worldwide Taxation; (1.7) Corporate Income Tax Assessment; (1.8) Special Tax Regimes.
(2) Anti-Abuse Provisions: (2.1) Taxing Indirect Sales; (2.2) Collective Investment Vehicles; (2.3) Attestation in the Sale of Immovable Property; (2.4) Liability in Cases of Tax Abuse; (2.5) Criminal Offences.
(3) VAT
(4) Other Relevant Provisions: (4.1) SIMPLE Tax Regime; (4.2) Net-Equity Tax; (4.3) Regularization Facility; (4.4) Sales Tax on Real Estate; (4.5) Final Note on Individual Taxation.
1.1. Rate Reduction
The Corporate Income Tax (“CIT”) rate reduction proposed in the Tax Reform Bill was approved by Congress and will, therefore, operate as follows
| Currently |
2019 |
2020 |
2021 |
2022 |
| 33% + 4% |
33% |
32% |
31% |
30% |
Please note that the 2018 Tax Reform Act creates a new CIT surcharge payable by financial entities, as further explained in the following subsection.
It is also worth highlighting that certain types of entities (e.g. small and medium enterprises subject to Act 1429/2010) and certain types of activities (e.g. companies that manage Pension Funds and editorials) that were previously subject to a reduced 9% CIT rate will, as of 2019, be subject to the general CIT rate, referred to herein above. Income from hotel services rendered in newly built and refurbished facilities will continue to be subject to the reduced 9% CIT rate.
Additional activities subject to the reduced 9% CIT rate included by Congress are new projects of (i) theme parks; (ii) ecotourism; (iii) agro-tourism; and (iv) boat docks.
1.2. New Corporate Income Tax Surcharge for Financial Entities
The 2018 Tax Reform Act creates a new temporary CIT Surcharge that will be levied exclusively for financial entities with a tax base equal or higher than USD 1,253,780 between 2019 and 2021, as follows:
| |
2019 |
2020 |
2021 |
| Surcharge |
4% |
3% |
3% |
| Total CIT Rate |
37% |
35% |
34% |
As of 2022, Financial Entities will be subject to the general CIT rate, i.e. 30%.
1.3. New Colombian Holding Company (“CHC”) Regime
The Tax Reform Act introduces a new regime, for Colombian Holding Companies (“CHC”) dedicated to (i) investing in securities, (ii) investing in shares of foreign and/or Colombian companies, and/or (iii) the management of such investments. Colombian companies carrying out these activities may optin for the CHC Regime, provided that they meet the following requirements:
(a) Minimum Holding Requirement: The CHC shall have, directly or indirectly, held at least a 10% stake in the capital of at least 2 foreign or Colombian companies, for at least a 12-month period.
(b) Minimum Economic Substance Requirement: The CHC shall have at least 3 employees, an address in Colombia (belonging to the CHC, not to a third party), and shall be able to prove that the strategic decisions in connection with the investments and assets of the CHC are taken in Colombia (please note that only carrying out the Shareholders’ meetings in Colombia is not enough to meet this requirement).
In the following tables we summarize the main tax benefits (i) for the shareholders of a CHC, and (ii) for a Colombian company subject to the CHC Regime:
| Tax Benefits for the Shareholders of the CHC |
| |
Colombian Tax Resident |
Foreign Tax Resident |
CHC
distributes
dividends
to |
Taxed in Colombia, with right to a Foreign Tax Credit on any tax paid abroad by the company that distributed dividends to the CHC. |
Exempt from Dividends Tax in Colombia, provided that the income out of which the dividends were distributed (i) is attributable to activities carried out by foreign entities; (ii) is not covered by the Colombian Controlled Foreign Entities Regime; and (iii) the shareholder is neither resident in a non cooperative jurisdiction, nor subject to a preferential tax regime. |
Sale of the
shares of
the CHC
by |
Exempt from Capital Gains Tax and CIT in Colombia, provided that (i) the price received in consideration for the shares is attributable to value created by foreign entities1 ; and (ii) the company from which the
CHC is selling the shares does not qualify as a Colombian Controlled
Foreign Entity. |
Exempt from Capital Gains Tax and CIT in Colombia, provided that (i) the price received in consideration for the shares is attributable to value created by foreign entities1; (ii) the company from which the CHC is selling the shares does not qualify as a Colombian Controlled Foreign Entity; and (iii) the shareholder is neither resident in a noncooperative jurisdiction, nor subject to a preferential tax regime. |
1 The amount of profits generated as a consequence of activities carried out in Colombia by the CHC is considered as value not created by the foreign entity, and is therefore not covered by the Capital Gains Tax/CIT exemption.
| Tax Benefits for the Company Subject to the CHC Regime |
| |
Colombian Company |
Foreign Company |
| Dividends received by the CHC from |
Taxable in Colombia with CIT, but not subject to Dividends Tax. |
Exempt from CIT in Colombia, provided that the income out of which the dividends were distributed (i) is attributable to activities carried out by foreign entities; and (ii) is not covered by the Colombian Controlled Foreign Entities Regime. |
| CHC sells its shares in a |
Taxable in Colombia, under the Capital Gains Tax or CIT, as applicable, depending on the circumstances. |
Exempt from Capital Gains Tax and CIT in Colombia, provided that the income out of which the dividends were distributed (i) is attributable to activities carried out by foreign entities; and (ii) is not covered by the Colombian Controlled Foreign Entities Regime. |
1.4. Dividend Taxation
The Tax Reform Act introduces various changes to dividend taxation, as shown in the following table:
| Beneficiary |
Profits already taxed at the corporate level |
Profits untaxed at the corporate level |
| |
Previous rate |
New rate |
Previous rate |
New rate |
| Non-resident individual, non-resident company or PE of foreign companies |
5% |
7.5% |
35% |
General CIT rate2 |
| Colombian company* |
N/A |
7.5% |
General |
General CIT rate |
| Resident individual |
0%, 5% or 10% |
15% |
35% |
General CIT rate |
| *This tax will be levied only on the first dividends distribution between Colombian companies, and the tax credit will be transferred until the last beneficiary of the dividends (individual or foreign investor). Dividend distributions to CHCs or within groups of companies duly registered with the Chamber of Commerce are not subject to this dividends tax withholding. |
1.5. Withholding Tax on Cross-Border Payments
The following table summarizes the main changes introduced by the Tax Reform in connection with the withholding tax rates on cross-border payments:
| Payment |
Previous rate |
New rate |
| Interest from loans with a term shorter than 1 year, Commissions, fees, royalties (except for royalties on software), leases, as well as any other payment made in consideration for personal services |
15% |
20% |
| Royalties on software |
26,4% |
20% |
| Consultancy services, technical services and technical assistance |
15% |
20% |
| Management fees, royalties and any other fees in connection with the use of intangibles paid by Colombian entities to their home office |
15% |
33% |
1.6. Permanent Establishment (“PE”) Worldwide Taxation
The proposal of the government was approved and, hence, with the entry into force of the Tax Reform Act PEs will be taxed on their attributable worldwide income (i.e. regardless of the source). This implies a change to the previous rule, introduced by the 2012 Tax Reform Act, according to which PEs were taxed for CIT purposes only on their Colombian sourced attributable income. Therefore, if part of the income attributable to the PE was not Colombian sourced, under previous regulations, it was not taxable for CIT purposes.
Further, according to the new provisions, financial expenses (such as interest and other financial yields) attributable to Colombian PEs will only be deductible if they were subject to withholding tax in Colombia.
1.7. Corporate Income Tax Assessment
In the following subsections we summarize some major changes with regards to the assessment of CIT:
1.7.1. Corporate Income Tax Deductions
The Tax Reform Act explicitly states that, with the exception of CIT, net-worth tax and normalization tax, the taxes and other levies paid by Colombian taxpayers are fully deductible, provided that there is a nexus between the payment and the income producing activity carried out by the taxpayer, solving various disputes that have arisen in recent years between the taxpayers and the Tax Authorities on this matter.
1.7.2. Thin Capitalization Rule
The Tax Reform Act modified the thin capitalization rule formerly in place, as follows: (i) this limitation will only apply to indebtedness between related parties; and (ii) the debt equity ratio will be reduced from 3:1 to 2:1.
Hence, with the entry into force of the Tax Reform Act, in cases of indebtedness between related parties, only interest derived from indebtedness with an average value not exceeding two times the entity’s net equity (on December 31 of the preceding year) are deductible.
The aforementioned interest deductibility limitation applies on both crossborder inbound indebtedness and local indebtedness, and does not apply only on certain narrowly defined cases (e.g. when the debtor is a financial entity and when the loan is obtained in order to finance infrastructure projects)
1.7.3. Creditable VAT, Turnover Tax and Bank Debits Tax
According to the Tax Reform Act:
(a) Tax credit for value added tax (VAT) paid in the acquisition, import or construction of tangible fixed assets used in the taxpayer’s income producing activity. In line with the idea of lowering taxes on businesses, a full tax credit against income tax of the VAT paid in the acquisition, import or construction of tangible fixed assets used in the taxpayer’s income producing activity was approved by Congress. This is an important benefit for businesses because previous law only granted a deduction of the VAT paid in the acquisition or import of capital assets.
Hence, instead of recovering up to 33% of the VAT paid, under the new rule, businesses will recover 100% of the VAT paid in the acquisition, import or construction of a fixed asset. Consequently, the VAT paid will not be considered as part of the asset’s cost for depreciation purposes.
(b) Tax credit for turnover tax (ICA) paid. 50% of the ICA will be creditable against the payable Income Tax liability. From 2022 onwards, the applicable rate of the tax credit will go up to 100%. Please note that in this case, the taxpayer faces a choice whether to have the tax deducted or as a tax credit.
1.7.4. Repeal of the Alternate Minimum Taxable Income
Nowadays, besides assessing their Income Tax liability based on their Net Taxable Income (i.e. income minus costs and deductions), Colombian taxpayers (both individuals and corporate entities) are obliged to assess their Income Tax liability based on the Alternate Minimum Taxable Income (“AMTI”).
The Tax Reform gradually eliminates the obligation of the Colombian taxpayers to assess their Income Tax liability using the AMTI, through a phase-out rate scale, as follows:
| 2018 |
2019 |
2020 |
As of 2021 |
| 3,5% |
1,5% |
1,5% |
0% |
1.8 Special Tax Regimes
In addition to the SIMPLE tax Regime explained in further detail in §4.1, the Tax Reform establishes the two following special tax regimes.
1.8.1 Mega-Investments
The Tax Reform Act establishes a special tax regime for any Income Tax taxpayer who generates at least 250 direct workplaces and makes new investments of at least 30,000,000 UVT (approx. COP 1,000,000 million or USD 310 million). This regime implies: (i) a reduced Income Tax rate of 27% (9% for any income derived from hotel services); (ii) a reduced 2-year depreciation term, (iii) exclusion of the obligation to assess the Income Tax liability using the Alternate Minimum Taxable Income method; (iv) that dividend distributions will not levy Dividends Tax if originated in income taxed at the corporate level, and will be taxed at a reduced 27% Dividend Tax rate if the dividends are originated in income that was untaxed at the corporate level; and (v) projects qualified as Mega-Investments would be disregarded when assessing the Net-Equity Tax.
This special regime will be applicable for a term of 20 years to investments made before 2024. Investments related to the evaluation and exploration of non-renewable natural resources will not be eligible for this regime.
In order to enforce this regime, the Tax Reform Act establishes legal stability contracts to be subscribed by the State and the investor. Through these contracts, the State guarantees that the above mentioned special tax conditions will be applicable for the investor throughout the term of the contract. In consideration for executing the stability contract, the investor would be obliged to pay, during the first 5 years, a premium of 0.75% of the value of the yearly investment.
The Tax Bill presented by the government proposed that this regime was applicable to taxpayers who created 50 direct workplaces and made new investments of at least 50,000,000 UVT (approx. COP 1,400,000 million or USD 305 million). However, as previously pointed out, Congress increased the number of workplaces and reduced the amount of the investment. Likewise, the Congress rejected the proposal of the government that excluded from this regime any investments made in connection with infrastructure projects and projects related to the construction and operation of free trade zones.
1.8.2. Creative Industries
One the government’s main policy proposal is related to the promotion of creative industries in Colombia; the so-called orange businesses. One of the ways in which government intends to do so is by creating a 7-year Income Tax exemption. This proposal was approved by Congress.
In order for a company to qualify for this tax benefit it must:
- Be incorporated and executing its business activity before December 31st, 2021.
- Have its domicile in Colombia.
- Be exclusively engaged in the development of one of the 27 business activities defined as a creative industry. (The Tax Bill proposal established almost 70 activities, but many of them were excluded from this regime). Such industries include, but are not limited to, the following:
a. Jewellery manufacturing;
b. Book publishing;
c. Film, music, radio and television production;
d. Software development;
e. Architecture and engineering and other activities related to technical consultancy
f. Theatre and other cultural activities;
g. Cultural tourism activities.
- Employ at least 3 full time workers without considering the business administrators.
- Develop a project, which must be approved by the Orange Business Committee of the Ministry of Culture.
- Invest in a 3-year period at least COP 150 million (USD 46,000) in the development of the orange business. If this threshold is not met, the Income Tax exemption will not be applicable from the third year onwards.
2.1. Taxing Indirect Sales
The Tax Reform Act introduces a special anti-abuse provision aimed at taxing in Colombia indirect sales of shares and assets located in Colombia.
Under the previous regime, indirect sales of shares of Colombian companies and assets located in Colombia, via the sale of shares in a foreign holding company, were not taxable events in Colombia. This was due to the fact that under the previous regulation, the sale of shares of foreign companies generated foreign source income, even if all the assets owned by the foreign company whose shares were sold were located in Colombia.
Exceptions to the new anti-abuse provision comprise (i) the sale of shares of foreign companies listed in a recognized stock exchange (provided that no more than 20% of such shares are owned by the same real beneficiary) and (ii) cases in which the underlying asset(s) located in Colombia represent 20% or less of the book and market value of the total assets owned by the alienated entity.
2.2. Collective Investment Vehicles (“CIVs”)
CIVs, including private equity funds (“PEF”), in Colombia are deemed as disregarded entities for income tax purposes. Therefore, all the activities and investments performed by CIVs are taxed at the level of the investor, as if it had directly undertaken the activity. Hence, income must only be recognized upon distribution of profits from the CIV to its investors. In the case of PEFs, the
distributions are first deemed to be a reimbursement of capital and once the capital has been fully reimbursed, any distribution will be taxed as profits. The Tax Reform establishes an anti-avoidance rule by virtue of which the deferral of income will only be achieved in the following three cases:
- CIVs whose participation rights are listed in the Colombian Stock Exchange.
- CIVs in which:
a. No more than 50% of its participation rights are directly or indirectly owned by the same beneficial owner, by the same economical related investment group related or by members of the same family, that are subject to Colombian Income Tax; and,
b. None of the CIVs beneficial owners, related investment group or family group, either separately or jointly, has control over the CIV’s distribution of profits.
- CIVs not constituted with the main purpose of serving as a vehicle for Income Tax deferral.
This anti-avoidance rule is not applicable for funds created for the sole purpose of developing new innovative business and raising capitals for such purpose. In this case, the investment in the fund must be lower than approx. COP 20,400 million (USD 6.2 million) and the project developer and the capital investors cannot be related parties.
In a similar line, the Tax Reform Act provides a new rule regarding the incometax withholding applicable to CIVs. Therefore, if the CIV is granted the deferral the withholding will only be applicable upon distribution of profits to its investors. In all other cases, the withholding will be performed by the administrator of the CIV depending on the nature of the income and the regime applicable to its beneficiary in the same fiscal year in which the income is received by the CIV. Payments derived from the sale of debt securities, participation rights, shares or equity securities are not subject to withholding tax if these instruments are not traded in the Colombian stock exchange.
2.3. Attestation in the Sale of Immovable Property
In order to strengthen measures against tax avoidance and tax abuse, the Tax Reform establishes that the parties granting a public deed of sale of immovable property are obliged to declare the truthfulness of the price included in such document. If this declaration is not included in the public deed: (i) the price, for tax purposes, would be deemed 4 times higher than the price set forth in the public deed; and (ii) the notary should report this irregularity to the Tax Administration.
In addition, any amount paid for the acquisition of immovable property that is not disbursed through financial entities will not constitute tax cost basis of such property for the buyer.
2.4. Liability in Cases of Tax Abuse
The Tax Reform establishes that the persons involved in transactions with evasion or tax abuse purposes are jointly and severally liable for any tax, interest or penalties that the Tax Administration had not collected.
Likewise, the persons who custody, administrate or manage assets in funds or vehicles used by their owners for purposes of tax evasion or abuse are jointly and severally liable for the sums that the Tax Administration had not collected.
2.5. Criminal Offences
The Tax Reform Act introduces two modifications to the Criminal Code: the reform of the Criminal Offence for Omitting Assets or Reporting Non-Existent Liabilities and the establishment of a Criminal Offence for Tax Fraud.
2.5.1. Modification of Criminal Offence for Omitting Assets or Reporting Non-Existing Liabilities
This criminal offence establishes a penalty for taxpayers that intentionally affect their income tax by omitting assets or filing inaccurate information regarding their assets; or reporting non-existing liabilities or filing inaccurate information regarding their liabilities. The penalty comprises imprisonment from 48 to 108 months and 20% of the amount of the omitted asset or the non-existent liabilities.
The Tax Reform Act modified this criminal offence by lowering to 5,000 minimum wages (approx. COP 4,140 million or USD 1.2 million) the amount of the omitted assets or non-existent liabilities required to trigger the criminal offence. Previously the amount from which the criminal offence was triggered was 7,500 minimum wages (approx. COP 6,210 million or USD 1.9 million).
It was also determined that the criminal liability would extinguish when the taxpayer presents or corrects the tax return and performs the corresponding payments, only if the amount of the omitted assets or inexistent liabilities is lower than 8,500 minimum wages (approx. COP 7,000 million or USD 2.1 million). Previously any criminal liability would extinguish when the taxpayer presented or corrected the tax return and performed the corresponding payments, regardless the amount of the assets omission or inexistent liabilities inclusion.
In order to strengthen the penalties, the time of imprisonment and the 20% fine would increase 1/3 or 1/2 depending on the amount of the assets omitted or inexistent liabilities included. In any case, it was also established that the criminal prosecution can only start upon request of the director of the National Tax Authority.
2.5.2. New Criminal Offence for Tax Fraud
The Tax Reform Act establishes a new criminal offence applicable to (i) the nonfiling of any tax return, (ii) the lack of report of income or the report of inexistent costs or expenses in any tax return, and (iii) or the claim of nonapplicable tax credits, withheld taxes or pre-paid taxes.
This criminal offence is applicable in case the tax authorities determine a higher tax due in an amount equal to or exceeding 250 minimum wages (approx. COP 200 million or USD 61,000).
The penalty comprises (i) imprisonment from 36 to 60 months and (ii) a fine equal to 50% of the higher tax due. These penalties can increase 1/3 or 1/2 depending on the amount of the offence.
The criminal liability would extinguish when the taxpayer presents or corrects the tax return and performs the corresponding payments, only if the amount of the higher tax due determined by the tax authorities is lower than 8,500 minimum wages (approx. COP 7,000 million or USD 2.1 million). In any case, the criminal prosecution can only start upon request of the director of the National Tax Authority.
Congress did not approve most of the changes proposed by the government in connection with VAT. In any case, we summarize the main changes to current VAT regulation approved by Congress.
a. Franchisees who are currently subject to consumption tax can opt-out from such treatment (until June 2019). Franchisees opting out of consumption tax will be subject to VAT. As of the entry into force of the Tax Reform Act all franchised restaurant sales will levy VAT instead of consumption tax.
b. Although cloud computing and hosting will remain untaxed, further digital services were added to the list of taxable services, including (i) services rendered through digital platforms, (ii) the assignment of the rights of use or the right to exploit intangibles, and (iii) a catch all provision referring to “other digital services destined to users located in Colombia”.
c. The sale of housing will no longer be taxable with VAT. With the entry into force of the Tax Reform, most sales of immovable property (not only housing) for a price exceeding approximately USD 275.000 will levy a 2%
consumption tax.
4.1. SIMPLE Tax Regime
In order to promote the formalization of enterprises the Tax Reform establishes a new simplified tax (“SIMPLE tax”) for small and medium enterprises. This SIMPLE tax would replace the Income Tax, local Turnover Tax and the Consumption Tax for any individual or corporate person obtaining gross income lower than 80,000 UVT (approx. COP 2,270 million or USD 700,000) who optsin. The SIMPLE Tax establishes fix rates applicable to the gross income. Such rates vary depending on the sector in which the enterprise operates, but in any case, the maximum rate is 11.6%.
4.2. Net-Equity Tax
The Tax Reform Act introduces for 2019 through 2021 a Net-Equity Tax (“NET”). Contrary to past similar taxes, Colombian entities (corporations and partnerships) will not be subject to this tax. Therefore, individuals who are tax residents, individuals who are not tax residents and foreign entities that on January 1st, 2019 have a net-equity equal to or higher than COP 5.000 million (approx. USD1.6 million), will be subject to the NET at a 1% rate.
NET’s taxable base is determined by subtracting the taxpayer’s debts from its equity. Additionally, NET taxpayers are allowed to subtract the following:
a. In the case of individuals, the first COP 460 million (USD 149,000) of the value of the house of residency of the taxpayer provided that it is taxable; and,
b. 50% of the assets that are subject to the complementary regularization tax created for 2019.
In this NET the triggering event and the dates in which the obligation to pay the tax arises are separated. Therefore, for NET taxpayers the NET base for 2020 and 2021 may increase or decrease with respect to the original tax base determined for 2019 only by 25% of the previous year’s inflation rate.
4.3. New Regularization Facility
Tax Reform Act provides a new Regularization Tax (“RT”). This is a new opportunity to regularize their tax status for taxpayers who by January 1st, 2019 have either omitted assets or have included non-existent liabilities in their tax returns. Therefore, taxpayers who have properly filed their tax returns are not subject to RT.
The taxable base of RT depends on what the taxpayer is regularizing. In the case of omitted assets, the taxable base is either its acquisition cost or its fair market value, which may not be lower than the acquisition cost. It is important to consider that if the taxpayer used tax structures with the sole purpose of having a low acquisition cost, such structures will be disregarded and the taxpayer willing to regularize its situation must declare the underlying assets. In the case of inexistent liabilities, the taxable base is the value for which such inexistent liabilities were declared.
It is worth noting that the new RT states that rights in foreign trusts, private interest foundations, cash value insurance contracts and other fiduciary vehicles must be declared for RT and income tax purposes as rights in a Colombian trust. Therefore, rights in such vehicles must consider the assets and liabilities held by the vehicle and must be declared independently. The person obliged to declare such rights, varies depending on whether the beneficiaries are conditioned or not. If the right to be considered as a beneficiary is not conditioned, then the beneficiary must comply with the formal duty just described. If there is a condition pending, then the settlor or insurance taker, as the case demands, must comply with the formal duty.
Lastly, the applicable rate of the RT will vary from 6.5% to 13%. The different treatment will depend on where the undeclared asset is held and if after paying the corresponding RT it is nvested in Colombia. If the undeclared asset is held abroad and it is not invested in Colombia or is invested for a period shorter than 2 years, then the applicable rate will be 13%. If the undeclared asset is held abroad but it is invested in Colombia for 2 years or more, the taxable base will be reduced by half. Therefore, the effective rate will be 6.5%.
4.4. Sales Tax on Real Estate
The Tax Reform establishes a 2% consumption tax applicable to the sale of new or used real estate property whose sale price is higher than approx. COP 911 million (USD 280,000). This tax is not applicable to the sale of (i) rural land destined to agricultural activities, (ii) land for the development of social interest housing projects and (iii) goods destined to public amenities of social interest sold to state entities or non-profit entities.
4.5. Final Note on Individual Taxation
The schedular system implemented by the 2016 Tax Reform is simplified by the 2018 Tax Reform establishing only 3 schedules: (i) a general schedule, which would include labour income, capital income and non-labour income, (ii) a schedule for pensions, and (iii) a schedule for dividends.
The labour, capital and non-labour income schedule unifies the rates, establishing new rate brackets of 37% and 39% applicable to individuals with annual income higher than 18,970 UVT (approx. COP 645 million or USD 200,000) and 31,000 UVT (approx. COP 1,000 million or USD 300,000), respectively. This schedule establishes a limit to the exempt income and
deductions, which cannot exceed 40% of the net income with a global limit of 5,040 UVT (approx. COP 171 million or USD 52,000).
Until fiscal year 2018, labour and pension income highest rate was 33% and non-labour and capital income highest rate was 35%. The limits of exempt income and deductions until fiscal year 2018 were: (i) 40% of the net income and a global limit of 5,040 UVT (approx. COP 171 millions or USD 52,000) for labour income and (ii) 10% of the net income and a global limit of 1,000 UVT (approx. COP 34 million or USD 52,000) for capital and non-labour income.
The Tax Reform Bill presented by the government proposed a fix amount of costs and deductions of 35%, limited to a 240 UVT per month (approx. COP 7,957,440 or USD 2,500) and eliminated the Income Tax exemption applicable to pensions. However, these modifications were disregarded by Congress.
Although, the Tax Reform Bill did not provide a change on the taxation of dividends distributed to individuals, as explained in §1.4, dividends paid out of profits that were already taxed at the corporate level distributed to resident individuals will be taxed at a 15% dividends tax rate (for distributions exceeding USD 3.000). Previously the applicable rates were 0% (for distributions under USD 6.000), 5% or 10%, depending on the case.
As previously explained, the Tax Reform gradually eliminates the assessment of the liability of individuals using the Alternate Minimum Taxable Income as taxable base, through a phase-out rate scale that would result in the repeal of this assessment mechanism as of 2021.
The Capital Gains Tax (10%) and the Income Tax Rate for non-resident individuals (35%) remain unchanged.
Please bear in mind that this is a selective summary, for informational purposes only, that focuses on certain topics of interest. Therefore, it is not intended to be a detailed and comprehensive dissertation of the topics discussed. It is advisable that our readers do not exclusively rely on this document and thoroughly review their queries, seeking qualified advice from professional tax attorneys duly admitted to the practice of law in Colombia.
For more information on other changes in other pieces of legislation both at a national and local level, which are not featured in this issue of Colombian_Tax_Flash®, you can visit us on twitter @colombiatax.
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