Colombia decides tax residence on a rolling count. Spend more than 183 days there in any 365 days in a row and you're resident, even if the days fall across two calendar years. Once you're resident, Colombia taxes your worldwide income from day one. There's no new-resident regime, no remittance basis and no grace period.
This guide covers Colombian personal tax for the 2026 tax year (the calendar year): residence, rates, freelancing, crypto, pensions, the wealth tax and the digital nomad visa.
The key question is simple. Will you spend more than 183 days in Colombia in any 365-day period? Almost everything else follows from the answer.
What's changed: Colombia's thresholds are set in tax value units (UVT), and the 2026 UVT is COP 52,374. Congress rejected the government's financing bill in December 2025, so the 2026 income tax rates are unchanged. An emergency decree (Decreto Legislativo 173 of 2026) extended the 2026 wealth tax to companies, but the rules for individuals stayed the same. On 20 July 2026, shortly before the new government took office on 7 August, a tax reform bill was filed that would raise the top rate to 41% and lower the wealth tax threshold to 40,000 UVT from 2027. It is still in committee: Proposed, not law. The pension reform (Law 2381 of 2024) will now take effect on 1 April 2027.
📋 Colombia tax at a glance for 2026
Topic | Details |
|---|---|
Tax year | The calendar year |
Tax system | Worldwide income for residents. Non-residents are taxed only on Colombian income, at a flat 35% |
Income tax rates | 0% to 39%. The first 1,090 UVT (about COP 57 million) is taxed at 0% |
All-in on a US$100k salary | About 25.5% (COP 320 million, single, including health, pension and solidarity fund contributions) |
Capital gains | 15% on assets held for two years or more. Shorter holdings are taxed on the income scale |
Wealth tax | 0.5% to 1.5% on the part above 72,000 UVT, if net wealth is 72,000 UVT or more on 1 January (about COP 3.77 billion) |
Inheritance and gifts | Taxed as occasional gains at 15% |
Residence at a glance | Getting in: easy (more than 183 days in any 365). Leaving: watch the rolling window. No exit tax |
Double tax treaties | 13 bilateral income tax treaties in force, plus the Andean Community agreement. None with the United States or Germany |
US dollar figures use COP 3,200 to US$1. The official market rate (TRM) was COP 3,170.46 on 16 October 2026.
👉 Datos Abiertos Colombia: official TRM exchange rate series (in Spanish)
👉 DIAN Resolution 000238 of 2025: UVT of COP 52,374 for 2026 (in Spanish)
The rolling 183-day rule
Why does Colombia catch people out? Because the 183 days aren't counted per calendar year. They're counted over any 365 consecutive days.
Image 1 — 183 days in any 365 makes you resident
Under article 10 of the Estatuto Tributario (Colombia's tax code), you're tax resident if you stay in Colombia for more than 183 calendar days, continuously or not, within any period of 365 consecutive days. If that period spans two tax years, you're resident in the second year.
For example, arrive in September 2026 and stay until May 2027 and you pass 183 days during 2027. You're then resident for all of 2027, even though you spent fewer than 183 days in Colombia in either calendar year.
Visitors from visa-exempt countries can stay up to 180 days per calendar year. Because the 365-day window crosses the new year, two long visits either side of 1 January can still take you past 183 days.
Colombian nationals have extra tests. A national can be resident regardless of days if, for example, their spouse or minor children are resident, or at least 50% of their income is from Colombian sources, or they're asked to prove residence abroad and can't. Those tests don't apply to foreigners.
👉 Estatuto Tributario, article 10: tax residence (DIAN compilation, in Spanish)
How you stop being resident
You stop being resident once no 365-day window in the year contains more than 183 days in Colombia. Residence applies to the whole tax year, and the tax code has no split-year rule. If you leave in March 2027 after living in Colombia through 2026, your 365-day window ending in early 2027 may still hold more than 183 days, so you can be resident for 2027 as well.
Colombia has no exit tax for individuals. Keep your travel records, because DIAN can ask you to prove where you were.
Income tax rates for 2026
Residents are taxed on one progressive scale set in UVT. Salaries, fees, rent, interest, taxable pensions and dividends are worked out separately, then added together and taxed on this scale.
Colombia income tax rates for residents in 2026
Taxable income (UVT) | About (COP) | Marginal rate |
|---|---|---|
Up to 1,090 | Up to 57.1 million | 0% |
1,090 to 1,700 | 57.1 to 89.0 million | 19% |
1,700 to 4,100 | 89.0 to 214.7 million | 28% |
4,100 to 8,670 | 214.7 to 454.1 million | 33% |
8,670 to 18,970 | 454.1 to 993.5 million | 35% |
18,970 to 31,000 | 993.5 million to 1.62 billion | 37% |
Over 31,000 | Over 1.62 billion | 39% |
Source: Estatuto Tributario, article 241, as amended by Law 2010 of 2019. Peso amounts use the 2026 UVT of COP 52,374.
Employees can treat 25% of their net employment income as exempt, capped at 790 UVT (COP 41.4 million) a year. All exemptions and deductions together are capped at 40% of income and 1,340 UVT (COP 70.2 million) a year. Compulsory pension and health contributions come off before this cap.
Non-residents pay a flat 35% on Colombian-source income, with no tax-free band.
Worked example
You're single, resident in Colombia in 2026 and earn COP 320 million (about US$100k).
You pay 4% health, 4% pension and 1% to the pension solidarity fund: COP 28.8 million. These aren't taxed.
The 25% exemption is capped at COP 41.4 million. Your taxable income is COP 249.8 million (4,770 UVT), and your income tax is COP 52.9 million.
Your all-in bill is about COP 81.7 million, or 25.5% of your salary. If you stay in your home country's pension scheme and don't pay Colombian pension contributions, it's about 22%.
Freelancing in Colombia
As a self-employed professional you pay income tax on the same scale. You can claim the 25% exemption (capped at 790 UVT) if you don't deduct your business costs instead.
Social security is charged on 40% of your monthly income. On that base you pay 12.5% health, 16% pension and, above four minimum wages, the 1% solidarity fund, so about 12.2% of your total income. On US$100k of fees (COP 320 million), contributions are about COP 39 million and income tax about COP 49.5 million: roughly 28% all-in.
There's an optional alternative, the SIMPLE regime. It charges one tax on gross income instead of income tax. For professional and consulting services the rate is 5.9% up to 6,000 UVT of yearly income and 7.3% from 6,000 to 15,000 UVT. US$100k is about 6,110 UVT, so the rate is 7.3% and the all-in cost, with contributions, is about 19.5%. Check that your activity qualifies before you register.
👉 Law 2277 of 2022, article 89: social security base for the self-employed (in Spanish)
👉 Estatuto Tributario, article 908: SIMPLE regime rates (DIAN compilation, in Spanish)
Crypto, investments and pensions
How is crypto taxed in Colombia? DIAN's unified guidance on crypto-assets treats them as intangible assets, not money.
Selling crypto you've held for two years or more gives an occasional gain, taxed at 15%.
Selling crypto held for less than two years gives ordinary income, taxed on the 0% to 39% scale.
Mining and staking rewards are taxable income.
Residents must report the crypto they hold at the end of the year in their tax return.
Gains on shares and other assets held for two years or more are also taxed at 15%. Dividends and interest go on the income scale. Dividends from Colombian companies get a 19% tax credit on the part above 1,090 UVT, which takes much of the tax away for smaller amounts.
On a US$1m portfolio yielding US$40k of foreign dividends and US$40k of long-held gains, the tax is about COP 36.2 million, or 14.1% of the income.
The wealth tax
Residents pay wealth tax on worldwide net wealth if it's 72,000 UVT or more on 1 January (about COP 3.77 billion, or US$1.18m). The rate is 0.5% on the part between 72,000 and 122,000 UVT, 1% on the part up to 239,000 UVT and 1.5% on the part above that. The 1.5% band applies only up to 2026. Non-residents pay only on wealth held in Colombia.
The July 2026 reform bill would cut the threshold to 40,000 UVT (about US$655,000) from 2027, with rates of 0.5% to 5%. That's Proposed, not law.
👉 House of Representatives: tax reform bill 004 of 2026 (in Spanish)
Pensions and inheritance
Pensions are exempt up to 1,000 UVT a month (COP 52.4 million, about US$16,400). Since Law 2277 of 2022, this also covers pensions from abroad, as long as you meet the conditions for a pension under Colombian rules. Most foreign retirees will pay no income tax on their pension.
Colombia has no separate inheritance tax. Inheritances, legacies and gifts are taxed as occasional gains at 15%.
👉 DIAN Concepto 18075 of 2023: unified guidance on crypto-assets (in Spanish)
Social security
Employees pay 4% of salary for health and 4% for pension. The employer pays the rest of the 12.5% health and 16% pension contributions. Above four monthly minimum wages you pay an extra 1% to the pension solidarity fund, rising in steps to 2% above 20 minimum wages. Contributions are capped at a base of 25 minimum wages a month.
The 2026 minimum wage is COP 1,750,905 a month, a 23% rise. The Council of State suspended the original decree (Decree 1469 of 2025) early in 2026, and Decree 159 of 2026 kept the same amount in force until that suspension was lifted.
Law 100 has a specific rule for foreign employees who aren't covered by a pension scheme in their home country or anywhere else. Whether you pay into the Colombian pension system can therefore depend on whether you stay in your home scheme, so check this with your employer.
The pension reform, Law 2381 of 2024, was upheld by the Constitutional Court in judgment C-264 of 2026, which said most of it takes effect on 1 April 2027. Until then, the Law 100 rules above apply.
👉 Law 100 of 1993: contribution rates, solidarity fund and contribution cap (in Spanish)
👉 Decree 159 of 2026: 2026 minimum wage (in Spanish)
👉 Constitutional Court judgment C-264 of 2026: pension reform from 1 April 2027 (in Spanish)
Double tax treaties
Does Colombia have double tax treaties? Yes, but fewer than most countries. DIAN lists 13 bilateral income tax treaties in force: Spain, Chile, Switzerland, Canada, Mexico, South Korea, India, Portugal, Czechia, the UK, Italy, France and Japan. Colombia is also covered by the Andean Community's Decision 578.
There's no income tax treaty with the United States or Germany, only agreements on shipping and air transport. Treaties with the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Brazil, Uruguay and the UAE are listed as not in force.
👉 DIAN: international tax agreements (in Spanish)
The digital nomad visa
Colombia offers a Visa V (visitor visa) for digital nomads who work remotely for employers or clients abroad. You need to show income of at least three monthly minimum wages, about COP 5.25 million or US$1,640 a month in 2026, with bank statements for the last three months. You also need health insurance covering you in Colombia.
The visa lasts up to two years. You can't work for or be paid by people or companies in Colombia. There's no tax exemption attached: once you pass 183 days in any 365, you're tax resident and your worldwide income is taxed in Colombia.
👉 Cancillería: visa requirements, including the digital nomad Visa V (in Spanish)
Who is Colombia good for?
How does Colombia compare for different kinds of mover? Ratings are relative to the 150+ countries TaxPilot covers, based on 2026 rules and the all-in cost including compulsory contributions.
☑️ Who is Colombia good for? Tax ratings for expats in 2026
Expat profile | Colombia rating | Why |
|---|---|---|
Employees | Moderate | About 25.5% all-in on a US$100k salary (COP 320 million): 9% health, pension and solidarity fund contributions, then income tax after the 25% exemption. There is no special regime for people moving to Colombia. |
Freelancers (self-employed) | Moderate | About 28% all-in on US$100k under the ordinary rules, with contributions of 30.5% (including the 1% solidarity fund) charged on 40% of your income. The optional SIMPLE regime for professional services would bring it to about 19.5%. |
Retirees | Good | About 0.7% on a US$40k foreign pension plus US$20k of investment income, because pensions are exempt up to 1,000 UVT a month, foreign ones included. Not Excellent, because inheritances and gifts are taxed at 15% as occasional gains. |
Crypto gains | Moderate | DIAN treats crypto as an intangible asset. A gain on crypto held for two years or more is an occasional gain taxed at 15%. Held for less, it is ordinary income on the 0% to 39% scale, about 24% on a US$100k gain. |
Investment income | Good | About 14.1% on the US$1m portfolio: foreign dividends on the income tax scale and 15% on gains held for two years or more. US$1m is about 61,100 UVT, under the 72,000 UVT wealth tax threshold, so no wealth tax in 2026. |
Digital nomad visa | Good | The Visa V for digital nomads needs income of three monthly minimum wages (about US$1,640 a month in 2026) and lasts up to two years. There is no tax exemption, so you are taxed normally once resident. |
Filing and deadlines
Your return for 2026 is filed in 2027. Individuals file between August and October, on a date set by the last two digits of their tax number (NIT). The first deadline is the seventh working day of August and the last is the seventeenth working day of October. You pay the tax due by the same date.
You must file if, for example, your gross assets at the end of the year exceed 4,500 UVT (about COP 236 million), or your card spending, purchases or bank deposits in the year exceed 1,400 UVT (about COP 73 million).
Residents whose foreign assets are worth more than 2,000 UVT (about COP 105 million) on 1 January also file an annual declaration of foreign assets.
👉 Decree 2229 of 2023: tax calendar for 2024 and later years (DIAN compilation, in Spanish)
Frequently asked questions
How do you become tax resident in Colombia?
You're resident if you spend more than 183 days in Colombia, continuously or not, in any period of 365 consecutive days. If that period spans two tax years, you're resident in the second year. Colombian nationals have extra tests based on family, income and assets.
What are the income tax rates in Colombia in 2026?
Residents pay 0% up to 1,090 UVT (about COP 57 million), then 19%, 28%, 33%, 35% and 37%, reaching 39% above 31,000 UVT. The 2026 UVT is COP 52,374. Non-residents pay a flat 35% on Colombian income.
Does Colombia tax foreign income?
Yes, once you're resident. Residents are taxed on worldwide income and must declare foreign assets worth more than 2,000 UVT. Non-residents are taxed only on Colombian income. Foreign pensions are exempt up to 1,000 UVT a month if you meet the pension conditions.
How is crypto taxed in Colombia?
DIAN treats crypto as an intangible asset. A gain on crypto held for two years or more is an occasional gain taxed at 15%. A gain on crypto held for less than two years is ordinary income taxed on the 0% to 39% scale.
Does Colombia have a wealth tax?
Yes. Residents with worldwide net wealth of 72,000 UVT or more on 1 January (about COP 3.77 billion in 2026) pay 0.5% to 1.5% on the part above that line. A bill filed in July 2026 would lower the threshold to 40,000 UVT from 2027, but it's Proposed, not law.
How many double tax treaties does Colombia have?
DIAN lists 13 bilateral income tax treaties in force, including with the UK, Spain, France, Italy, Canada, Mexico and Japan, plus the Andean Community agreement. There's no income tax treaty with the United States.
Where to go next
Important information
This article is general information and does not constitute tax, legal, immigration or financial advice, and does not create a client relationship. Tax outcomes depend on travel history, income sources, treaty status and the law applying to the relevant year. Rates, thresholds and regimes change, and some measures described may be proposed rather than enacted; this article reflects our understanding as at the date of publication. Obtain advice from a suitably qualified professional before acting or refraining from action.
