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Foreign investment in Colombia: what counts as foreign investment, how it is registered, special regimes, sector caps and incentives

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Last verified: 2026-10-26 · Status: Stable

Colombia has no general screening of foreign investment: the international investment regime in Decreto 1068 de 2015 sorts every inbound asset into direct or portfolio investment, registration with Banco de la República is automatic when dollars come in through the FX market, and registration is what carries the exchange guarantees. Foreign capital may own any share of a financial institution, but law caps it at 40 percent of a television concessionaire, reserves armed private security companies to Colombian individuals, and puts hydrocarbons and mining under a special regime. Investment incentives are now location and export based (free trade zones at 20 percent on export income, reduced rates for new companies in conflict affected ZOMAC municipalities through 2027), since legal stability contracts were repealed in 2012 and the mega investment regime in 2022.

USD figures use the TRM (tasa representativa del mercado) of COP 3,158.43 per US dollar, valid 24 to 26 October 2026, from the official TRM series published by the Superintendencia Financiera on the national open data portal. Conversions are for orientation only.

Key facts

General prior approval or screening of foreign investment	No, save special regimes textDecreto 1068 de 2015 art. 2.17.2.2.2.2 (Decreto 119 de 2017), as of 2026-10-26 · in force
Categories of foreign capital investment	Direct investment and portfolio investment textDecreto 1068 de 2015 art. 2.17.2.2.1.2, as of 2026-10-26 · in force
Maximum foreign share in entities supervised by the Superintendencia Financiera	100 %Decreto 1068 de 2015 art. 2.17.2.3.1.1 (any proportion), as of 2026-10-26 · in force
Maximum foreign share in the capital of a television concessionaire	40 %Ley 182 de 1995 art. 34 (Ley 680 de 2001 art. 1), as of 2026-10-26 · in force
Foreign partners in private surveillance and security companies	Not allowed; partners must be Colombian individuals textDecreto Ley 356 de 1994 art. 12, as of 2026-10-26 · in force
Deadline for hydrocarbons and mining special regime branches to file the annual equity reconciliation after the 31 December close	6 monthsCircular DCIP-83 num. 11.1.1.3, as of 2026-10-26 · in force
Exchange difference on an investment above which the art. 47 deposit applies before returning it abroad	5 % of the peso amount channelledCircular DCIP-83 num. 7.2.3, as of 2026-10-26 · in force
Income tax rate for free trade zone industrial users on the export share of taxable income (with internationalization plan)	20 %Estatuto Tributario art. 240-1 num. 1 and par. 6 (Ley 2277 de 2022 art. 11), as of 2026-10-26 · in force
Income tax rate for free trade zone commercial users	35 %Estatuto Tributario art. 240-1 par. 1 and art. 240, as of 2026-10-26 · in force
ZOMAC new micro and small companies, share of the general income tax rate, 2025 to 2027	50 % of general rateLey 1819 de 2016 art. 237 lit. a, as of 2026-10-26 · in force
ZOMAC new medium and large companies, share of the general income tax rate, 2022 to 2027	75 % of general rateLey 1819 de 2016 art. 237 lit. b, as of 2026-10-26 · in force
New legal stability contracts for investors	No, regime repealed in 2012 (existing contracts only) textLey 1607 de 2012 art. 166, as of 2026-10-26 · repealed
Corporate income tax, general rate	35 %Estatuto Tributario art. 240 (Ley 2277 de 2022 art. 10), as of 2026-10-26 · in force
TRM used for USD conversions (valid 24 to 26 October 2026)	3158.43 COP per USDOfficial TRM series, Superintendencia Financiera de Colombia, as of 2026-10-24 · in force

The rule

1. Foreign capital investment is investment by a non resident in Colombian assets acquired through a lawful act, contract or operation, and is either direct or portfolio investment. Direct investment covers stakes in any proportion in a Colombian company's capital that are not listed in the National Registry of Securities and Issuers (RNVE); listed shares when the investor declares they are held with intent of permanence; rights in trust arrangements with supervised trust companies; real estate in Colombia; economic rights under collaboration, concession, licence, management, consortium or technology transfer contracts whose returns depend on the business's profits; assigned and supplementary capital of a branch of a foreign company; stakes in private equity funds; and intangible assets acquired to earn an economic return in Colombia. Portfolio investment covers RNVE registered or foreign quoted securities, collective investment funds and depositary receipt programmes. Loans and other borrowing are never foreign investment, and a resident who uses currency declared as foreign investment to take on external debt commits an exchange infraction. Assets acquired by a non resident in a merger, spin off, transfer of assets and liabilities, share exchange or reorganization are also foreign investment.
Example: A foreign fund buys an apartment in Bogotá for COP 1,000,000,000: that is direct investment in real estate and must be registered as such; a loan of the same amount to a Colombian company is external debt, not investment. / About US$316,613 for the apartment, registered as direct investment, not as a loan.Decreto 1068 de 2015, Title 2 of Part 17 of Book 2, as replaced by Decreto 119 de 2017 (international investment regime), Art. 2.17.2.2.1.2, literals a) and b) and paragraphs 1 to 3, 2017-01-26 official text · verified 2026-10-26

2. A branch of a foreign company may register as direct foreign investment the foreign currency capital that stays in the accounting current account it keeps with its head office during the annual period to which its profits belong. That amount is booked in a special account called supplementary investment to assigned capital and follows the exchange regime of the assigned capital; a branch may never show a negative balance in that account.Decreto 1068 de 2015 as replaced by Decreto 119 de 2017, Art. 2.17.2.2.1.3, 2017-01-26 official text · verified 2026-10-26

3. Direct investment made without bringing foreign currency through the FX market (for example contributions in kind, intangibles or capitalizations) is registered at any time by the investor, its attorney in fact or the legal representative of the receiving company, by transmitting the international investment registration declaration through Banco de la República's Nuevo Sistema de Información Cambiaria, without supporting documents; direct investment arising from mergers and spin offs is registered the same way under the origin business reorganization. If an investment is never perfected, the peso amount converted for it may be sent back abroad only after setting up the deposit of art. 47 of Resolución Externa 1 de 2018, and an exchange rate difference between the currency brought in and the capital actually contributed may be returned, with the same deposit required when it exceeds 5 percent of the peso amount originally channelled.
Cost to do it: Banco de la República charges nothing to register; the costs are the adviser or bank that prepares the filing, which vary by provider.
Example: Currency converted to COP 1,000,000,000 for a subscription that ends up at COP 940,000,000 of capital: the COP 60,000,000 difference is 6 percent, above the 5 percent threshold, so the deposit applies before it goes back. / About US$316,613 brought in and US$18,997 of excess to return in that example.Circular Reglamentaria Externa DCIP-83 of Banco de la República, Chapter 7 (compendium updated to 26 May 2023), Num. 7.2.1.2 and num. 7.2.3, 2023-05-26 official text · verified 2026-10-26

4. The supervising authority must ask Banco de la República to cancel an investment's registration, after its own procedure and without prejudice to sanctions, if the registered capital was never actually invested, the investment was made in a prohibited sector or without a required authorization, the operation is not an investment under the regime, or the underlying act or contract is unlawful. Any foreign investment made in breach of the regime has no exchange rights or guarantees. Save for international treaties in force, disputes under the foreign investment regime are governed by Colombian law and are subject to Colombian courts and arbitration rules unless the parties agreed to international arbitration.Decreto 1068 de 2015 as replaced by Decreto 119 de 2017, Art. 2.17.2.2.4.1 and art. 2.17.2.2.4.2, 2017-01-26 official text · verified 2026-10-26

5. Foreign investors may hold shares, mandatorily convertible bonds or cooperative contributions in entities supervised by the Superintendencia Financiera in any proportion; the general regime applies to anything the financial chapter does not regulate. Foreign investment in oil and gas exploration and production, refining, transport and distribution of hydrocarbons, and in mineral exploration, extraction, processing and transformation, must comply with the sector rules and with any contract signed with the Agencia Nacional de Hidrocarburos or the Agencia Nacional de Minería, and the exchange regime of hydrocarbons and mining, including oil, gas, coal, ferronickel and uranium, is set by the Board of Banco de la República. A branch in that special regime running several activities under different exchange rules must report them separately, with no common assets or liabilities.Decreto 1068 de 2015 as replaced by Decreto 119 de 2017, Art. 2.17.2.3.1.1, art. 2.17.2.3.1.2, art. 2.17.2.3.2.2, art. 2.17.2.3.2.3 and art. 2.17.2.3.2.4, 2017-01-26 official text · verified 2026-10-26

6. Branches in the special hydrocarbons and mining regime must keep their foreign investment information current by transmitting the special regime equity reconciliation (Conciliación Patrimonial Régimen Especial) through the Nuevo Sistema de Información Cambiaria within six months of the 31 December accounting close. Head office contributions to collaboration contracts (cash calls) are registered as supplementary investment to assigned capital.
Cost to do it: No Banco de la República fee; the filing is prepared by the branch's accountants.Circular Reglamentaria Externa DCIP-83 of Banco de la República, Chapter 11 (updated to 5 October 2021), under Decreto 1068 de 2015 art. 2.17.2.7.2, Num. 11.1.1.3, 2021-10-05 official text · verified 2026-10-26

7. Foreign investment in television concessionaire companies, whatever their territorial scope, is allowed up to 40 percent of the concessionaire's total share capital. The investor's home country must offer Colombian companies the same possibility on a reciprocal basis, the investment carries an implicit transfer of technology, and it may not be made through companies with bearer shares or companies whose partners are companies with bearer shares.
Example: In a television concessionaire with share capital of COP 10,000,000,000, foreign shareholders may hold at most COP 4,000,000,000. / About US$1,266,452 of a US$3,166,130 capital.Ley 182 de 1995, art. 34 as replaced by Ley 680 de 2001 art. 1, Art. 34, 2001-08-08 official text · verified 2026-10-26

8. The partners of private surveillance and security companies must be individuals of Colombian nationality. Companies formed before the statute took effect with foreign partners or capital may not increase the foreign partners' share.Decreto Ley 356 de 1994 (Private Surveillance and Security Statute), Art. 12 and its paragraph, 1994-02-11 official text · verified 2026-10-26

9. A free trade zone is a delimited area of Colombia where industrial activities in goods and services, or commercial activities, run under special tax, customs and foreign trade rules; goods brought into it are treated as outside the national customs territory for import and export taxes. Industrial users of free trade zones pay income tax at 20 percent on the share of taxable income that matches the share of export income in total tax revenue, and at the general art. 240 rate (35 percent) on the rest; commercial users pay the general rate. Since 2023 the 20 percent rate requires an internationalization and annual sales plan agreed with the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Tourism for each tax year, with maximum targets for sales into the national customs territory; without the agreement, or if the targets are missed, the general rate applies to all income. Offshore zones, port service zones, fuel and biofuel refining zones, certain logistics users and zone operators pay a flat 20 percent.
Cost to do it: Qualification as an industrial user is granted by the free trade zone's operator, which sets its own charges; there is no official fee schedule to cite here.
Example: An industrial user qualified in 2025 with taxable income of COP 1,000,000,000 and 60 percent of its revenue from exports, under an agreed plan: COP 600,000,000 at 20 percent (COP 120,000,000) plus COP 400,000,000 at 35 percent (COP 140,000,000), total COP 260,000,000 against COP 350,000,000 at the general rate, a saving of COP 90,000,000. / About US$82,319 of tax instead of US$110,815 on US$316,613 of taxable income, a saving of about US$28,495.Ley 1004 de 2005 art. 1; Estatuto Tributario art. 240-1 as replaced by Ley 2277 de 2022 art. 11, Ley 1004 art. 1; Estatuto Tributario art. 240-1, num. 1 to 3 and paragraphs 1, 5 and 6, 2022-12-13 official text · verified 2026-10-26 · changed: Ley 2277 de 2022 (13 December 2022) replaced the flat 20 percent rate for industrial users with the export share formula and the internationalization plan from tax year 2024. The Constitutional Court upheld the change conditionally in Sentencia C-384 de 2023, and DIAN Concepto 2531 de 2024 (18 May 2024) reads it so that industrial users qualified or authorized before 13 December 2022 that meet the exclusivity principle of Decreto 2147 de 2016 art. 6 and carry out only their authorized activities keep the flat 20 percent rate.

10. New companies (those registered in the commercial registry from 29 December 2016) that have their main domicile and carry out all their economic activity in the municipalities most affected by the armed conflict (ZOMAC), and that meet the minimum investment and job creation amounts set by the Government, pay a reduced income tax rate. Micro and small companies (total assets up to 5,001 monthly minimum wages) pay 50 percent of the general rate for 2025 to 2027; medium and large companies pay 75 percent of the general rate for 2022 to 2027. From 2028 all pay the general rate. Mining and hydrocarbon concessionaires, and large taxpayers in port activities under concession, are excluded.
Example: A new small company in a ZOMAC municipality with taxable income of COP 200,000,000 in 2026: tax at 17.5 percent (half of 35 percent) is COP 35,000,000 instead of COP 70,000,000; a large company pays 26.25 percent, COP 52,500,000. / About US$11,081 instead of US$22,163 on US$63,323 of taxable income for the small company; about US$16,622 for a large one.Ley 1819 de 2016 (Part XI, ZOMAC regime), art. 236 par. 1 as amended by Decreto Ley 883 de 2017, Art. 236 and art. 237, 2016-12-29 official text · verified 2026-10-26

11. Colombia no longer signs legal stability contracts: Ley 963 de 2005, which created them, was repealed, and it survives only to govern contracts already in force and applications filed before the repeal, until the last of them is liquidated. The mega investment income tax regime (Estatuto Tributario art. 235-3 and 235-4) was repealed from 13 December 2022. Free trade zone users that hold a legal stability contract apply the rate set in the contract.Ley 1607 de 2012; Ley 2277 de 2022; Estatuto Tributario, Ley 1607 art. 166 and paragraph 1; Ley 2277 art. 96; Estatuto Tributario art. 240-1 par. 2, 2022-12-13 official text · verified 2026-10-26 · changed: Legal stability contracts closed to new applicants on 26 December 2012 (Ley 1607 de 2012 art. 166); the mega investment regime was repealed on 13 December 2022 (Ley 2277 de 2022 art. 96).

Activity	Rule	Norm
Television concessionaires	Foreign capital up to 40 percent, with reciprocity and no bearer share holders	Ley 182 de 1995 art. 34 (Ley 680 de 2001 art. 1)
Private surveillance and security companies	Partners must be Colombian individuals; pre 1994 foreign stakes may not grow	Decreto Ley 356 de 1994 art. 12
Financial, insurance and securities entities	Any proportion allowed; special regime chapter applies	Decreto 1068 de 2015 art. 2.17.2.3.1.1
Hydrocarbons and mining	Sector rules, ANH or ANM contract, and a special exchange regime set by Banco de la República	Decreto 1068 de 2015 art. 2.17.2.3.2.2 and 2.17.2.3.2.3

Where Colombian law limits or conditions foreign participation, with the official source. Closed sectors for all foreign investment (defence and national security; foreign toxic, hazardous or radioactive waste) are covered on the start here page.

Regime	Effective rate	Tax COP	Approx. USD
General rate	35%	COP 350,000,000	US$110,815
Free trade zone industrial user, 60% exports	26%	COP 260,000,000	US$82,319
Free trade zone industrial user qualified before 13 December 2022 (exclusivity met)	20%	COP 200,000,000	US$63,323
New medium or large company in ZOMAC	26.25%	COP 262,500,000	US$83,111
New micro or small company in ZOMAC	17.5%	COP 175,000,000	US$55,407

Income tax on COP 1,000,000,000 of taxable income in 2026 under each regime (Estatuto Tributario art. 240 and 240-1; Ley 1819 de 2016 art. 237). Free trade zone line assumes an industrial user qualified after 13 December 2022, with an agreed internationalization plan and 60 percent export revenue. USD at the TRM of COP 3,158.43, for orientation only.

Worked example

A foreign manufacturer plans a plant to export to the Andean region. It forms a Colombian SAS and wires US$5,000,000 of equity to a Colombian bank, about COP 15,792,150,000 at the TRM; the FX declaration registers it as direct investment (Decreto 1068 de 2015 art. 2.17.2.2.1.2 and 2.17.2.5.1.1).
It contributes a patent licence to the SAS as well. That contribution in kind is intangible direct investment and is registered separately through Banco de la República's Nuevo Sistema de Información Cambiaria, since no currency was channelled (DCIP-83 num. 7.2.1.2).
The SAS is qualified as an industrial user in a free trade zone and signs an internationalization plan with the Ministry of Commerce each year. With taxable income of COP 1,000,000,000 and 60 percent export revenue, it pays COP 260,000,000 (about US$82,319) instead of COP 350,000,000 (about US$110,815) (Estatuto Tributario art. 240-1).
If it had instead chosen a ZOMAC municipality as a new large company, it would pay 26.25 percent through 2027 (Ley 1819 de 2016 art. 237), but only if all its activity stays in the ZOMAC municipality.

Step by step

1. Classify the asset: direct investment (unlisted shares, branch capital, real estate, profit linked contracts, private equity funds, intangibles) or portfolio investment (listed securities, collective investment funds), because the registration route follows the class (Decreto 1068 de 2015 art. 2.17.2.2.1.2).
2. Check special regimes and caps: financial sector (any proportion, special chapter), hydrocarbons and mining (sector contracts and special exchange regime), television (40 percent), armed private security (Colombian partners only).
3. Bring currency through an FX market intermediary or compensation account so registration is automatic; register contributions in kind, capitalizations and reorganization outcomes through the Nuevo Sistema de Información Cambiaria (DCIP-83 num. 7.2.1.2).
4. If the investment falls through, plan the return of funds with the art. 47 deposit and the 5 percent exchange difference threshold in mind (DCIP-83 num. 7.2.3).
5. If incentives matter, choose location early: free trade zone qualification and a yearly internationalization plan with MinCIT for the 20 percent rate (Estatuto Tributario art. 240-1 par. 6), or a new company with all activity in a ZOMAC municipality before the 2027 sunset (Ley 1819 de 2016 art. 237).
6. For hydrocarbons and mining branches, calendar the special regime equity reconciliation within six months of 31 December (DCIP-83 num. 11.1.1.3).

Common traps

Calling a loan an investment, or the reverse. Borrowing is never foreign investment, and using currency declared as investment to take on external debt is an exchange infraction (Decreto 1068 de 2015 art. 2.17.2.2.1.2 par. 1).
Assuming registration cures problems. An investment registered but never actually made, made in a prohibited sector, not really an investment, or rooted in an unlawful contract can have its registration cancelled and loses all exchange guarantees (art. 2.17.2.2.4.2).
Forgetting non cash contributions. Intangibles, contributions in kind and reorganization outcomes are not registered automatically; without the registration declaration the investor cannot rely on the exchange rights tied to registration (DCIP-83 num. 7.2.1.2).
Planning a television or private security deal without checking caps. The 40 percent ceiling and the Colombian partner rule come from statute, not from investment screening (Ley 182 de 1995 art. 34; Decreto Ley 356 de 1994 art. 12).
Counting on the 20 percent free trade zone rate without a plan. Industrial users qualified from 2023 lose it on all income if they do not sign the yearly internationalization plan or miss its targets (Estatuto Tributario art. 240-1 par. 6); commercial users never had it (par. 1).
Moving part of a ZOMAC company's activity elsewhere. The reduced rate requires the main domicile and all economic activity in the ZOMAC (Ley 1819 de 2016 art. 237), and it ends after 2027.
Relying on a stability contract or the mega investment regime. Neither is available to new investors (Ley 1607 de 2012 art. 166; Ley 2277 de 2022 art. 96); protection against adverse changes now comes from the exchange guarantee in Decreto 1068 de 2015 art. 2.17.2.2.3.2 and from investment treaties.

Sources

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