Taxation in Colombia for a dual U.S. and Colombian citizen.

@N.Barley

I didn't have to cut off the tags of

my new clothing before I flew back

from Lima a couple of weeks ago. 

There were no outer tags, because

the clothes were custom-made at

one of the tailor shops on Benevides

near Kennedy Park.

Expat travelers, be aware you can get

high-quality tailored articles made

to measure at South American prices

priced far below what this kind of work

costs up North.

Ön the Lima trip, I ordered collared shirts,

a navy blazer, khaki pants and

Thai-style drawstring shorts .. with

excellent results.

cccmedia in Quito

@N.Barley In all honesty , never heard of DIAN " auditing " anyone on thier overseas ( emphasis) income..and I know dozens of expats and locals I have been here 11 years and visitng almost 20 years.

Of course there were stories of this in the news for a few very rich Colombians with substantial assets in Panamá during the " Panamá papers" fiasco.

Deleted

@cccmedia pretty well everyone I know says "I have nothing to declare" when passing through DIAN in El dorado. And thats it.

Other than occaisionally through security, the only time someone searched my or my  wifes bags at the airport, along with a dozen other People, is when the sniffer dog somehow thought there were drugs in a bunch of bags.

Think the old mutt had alzheimer and they retired him.

Ohh and United Airlines occaisionaly do an additional search on top of the airport security looking for " stuff". They once made me get ridof a bottle of listerine hat passed security..

As far as DIAN..laid back and easy going in every way...

Dont know where people get the idea they are the Gestapo or something...

Some of the airport-security dogs are trained to

sniff out frutitas  ..  not just drugs.

I had a manzana  confiscated at BOG on one trip

due to this fact.

cccmedia

all honesty , never heard of DIAN " auditing " anyone on thier overseas ( emphasis) income..and I know dozens of expats and locals

Assuming the hypothetical of a retired expat who qualifies as a tax resident and may own apartment in Poblado that they live in year-round, and/or exceeds 59 million in digital transactions in 2023 from ATM withdrawals with his Capital One card, is it your recommendation that the expat NOT file form 210 of DIAN, or that they should file it, but report NO income? If the expat is not going to report income under this hypothetical, there is really no need to hire an accountant, true?

@artisvida you should connect with an accountant. First, determine if you are a fiscal resident. You may be even if you don't spend more than 150 days.

Assuming you are not a fiscal resident, you only need to pay taxes on your Colombian income. However, even if you don't have income, if you cross any of the limits (e.g., the value of your condo is above the threshold,  mine is), you have to file taxes even with zero liability. I had to pay a bunch of penalties because I didn't do it.

Again, each situation is very different so talk to an accountant. Also, be careful, I had an accountant who wanted to file my taxes as resident and make up income because my penalty was lower. That would have meased up my US taxes (plus... lying!). I had to read the law and talk to three different people. And, I'm in this forum trying to find more info

Enjoy the Colombia ride!

@Cristy1977 so sorry to hear about the penalties.

At the moment, I'm not a Colombian Fiscal resident because all my income is U.S. based. Additionally, I haven't spent more than 90 days of a calendar year in the Country.

However, this will change in about 3 years when I purchase property. It is above the threshold, so I will need to report.