Countries › Colombia › Guide › 6. Taxes › Corporate income tax in Colombia: the 35 percent rate, sector surtaxes, the 15 percent minimum tax and deduction limits

Corporate income tax in Colombia: the 35 percent rate, sector surtaxes, the 15 percent minimum tax and deduction limits

Argentina. For full detail on Argentina, go to The Argentine Thread.

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

Colombian companies and branches of foreign companies pay 35 percent on net taxable income, with surtaxes for financial institutions, hydroelectric generators, coal and oil, and 15 percent rates for qualifying hotels and book publishers. A minimum tax tops up any company whose adjusted tax falls below 15 percent of adjusted book profit. Payments abroad are deductible only if withholding was applied, foreign costs without withholding are capped at 15 percent of net income, and a 75 percent advance on next year's tax is paid with each return.

USD figures use the TRM of COP 3,158.43 per US dollar, valid 24 to 26 October 2026, from the official TRM series certified by the Superintendencia Financiera and published on datos.gov.co. UVT amounts use the 2026 UVT of COP 52,374 (DIAN Resolución 000238 de 2025). Conversions are for orientation only.

Key facts

Corporate income tax, general rate	35 %Estatuto Tributario art. 240 (Ley 2277 de 2022 art. 10), as of 2026-10-26 · in force
Minimum adjusted tax rate on adjusted book profit (not for foreign legal persons without residence)	15 %Estatuto Tributario art. 240 par. 6, as of 2026-10-26 · in force
Additional points for financial institutions and insurers with taxable income of 120,000 UVT or more, tax years 2023 to 2027	5 percentage pointsEstatuto Tributario art. 240 par. 2, as of 2026-10-26 · in force
Additional points for hydroelectric generators with taxable income of 30,000 UVT or more, tax years 2023 to 2026	3 percentage pointsEstatuto Tributario art. 240 par. 4, as of 2026-10-26 · in force
Maximum additional points for crude oil producers (price linked, taxable income of 50,000 UVT or more)	15 percentage pointsEstatuto Tributario art. 240 par. 3, as of 2026-10-26 · in force
Maximum additional points for coal miners (price linked, taxable income of 50,000 UVT or more)	10 percentage pointsEstatuto Tributario art. 240 par. 3, as of 2026-10-26 · in force
Reduced rate for qualifying new or remodelled hotels, ecotourism and agrotourism projects, ten years	15 %Estatuto Tributario art. 240 par. 5, as of 2026-10-26 · in force
Rate for companies exclusively publishing books	15 %Estatuto Tributario art. 240 par. 7, as of 2026-10-26 · in force
Presumptive income rate on prior year net equity, from tax year 2021	0 %Estatuto Tributario art. 188, as of 2026-10-26 · in force
Cap on foreign costs not subject to withholding, share of net taxable income	15 %Estatuto Tributario art. 122, as of 2026-10-26 · in force
Cap on listed tax benefits, share of ordinary net income	3 %Estatuto Tributario art. 259-1, as of 2026-10-26 · in force
Advance payment on next year's income tax (established taxpayers)	75 %Estatuto Tributario art. 807, as of 2026-10-26 · in force
UVT for 2026	52374 COPDIAN Resolución 000238 de 2025, 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. Colombian companies and their equivalents, permanent establishments of foreign entities and foreign legal persons that must file a return pay income tax at a general rate of 35 percent on net taxable income.
Example: Net taxable income of COP 2,000,000,000: income tax of COP 700,000,000. / About US$633,226 of taxable income: about US$221,629 of tax.Estatuto Tributario (Decreto 624 de 1989), as amended by Ley 2277 de 2022 art. 10, Art. 240, first paragraph, 2022-12-13 official text · verified 2026-10-26

2. A company is Colombian for tax purposes, and taxed on worldwide income, if during the year its effective place of management is in Colombia, or if its main domicile is in Colombia, or if it was incorporated under Colombian law. The effective place of management is where the day to day commercial and management decisions are actually taken; board meetings held in Colombia or Colombian shareholders do not by themselves make a foreign company Colombian, and companies listed on the Colombian or a recognised foreign exchange are carved out.Estatuto Tributario, added by Ley 1607 de 2012 art. 84; par. 1 as amended by Ley 2277 de 2022 art. 56, Art. 12-1, first and second paragraphs, par. 1, 2 and 5, 2012-12-26 official text · verified 2026-10-26

3. A foreign company with a branch or permanent establishment in Colombia is taxed on the Colombian source income and gains attributable to it, determined on the functions, assets, risks and personnel involved. Branches and permanent establishments must keep separate accounts supported by a study of those functions, assets, risks and personnel. A permanent establishment is a fixed place of business in Colombia (including branches, agencies, offices, factories, mines and wells) or a dependent agent who habitually concludes binding contracts; preparatory or auxiliary activities do not create one, and treaties prevail.
Cost to do it: The separate accounting and the functions, assets and risks study are prepared by the branch, usually with outside accountants; fees are not set by law.Estatuto Tributario, added by Ley 1607 de 2012 art. 86 and art. 87, Art. 20-1 (first to third paragraphs, par. 1 and 2) and art. 20-2 (first paragraph and paragraph), 2012-12-26 official text · verified 2026-10-26

4. Sector surtaxes on top of the 35 percent rate: financial institutions, insurers and reinsurers, stockbrokers, commodity exchanges and securities market infrastructure providers with taxable income of 120,000 UVT or more add 5 points for tax years 2023 to 2027 (40 percent); companies whose main activity is hydroelectric generation with taxable income of 30,000 UVT or more add 3 points for tax years 2023 to 2026 (38 percent), except plants of 1,000 kW or less; coal miners add 0, 5 or 10 points and crude oil producers add 0, 5, 10 or 15 points depending on where the year's average international price sits against the price percentiles of the last 120 months, if their taxable income is 50,000 UVT or more (measured across related parties). The financial and hydroelectric surtaxes carry a 100 percent advance payable in two annual instalments.
Example: 2026 thresholds: 120,000 UVT = COP 6,284,880,000; 50,000 UVT = COP 2,618,700,000; 30,000 UVT = COP 1,571,220,000. / About US$1,989,875, US$829,114 and US$497,469 respectively.Estatuto Tributario, as amended by Ley 2277 de 2022 art. 10, Art. 240, par. 2, 3 and 4, 2022-12-13 official text · verified 2026-10-26

5. Reduced rates: 15 percent for ten years on income from hotel, ecotourism theme park or agrotourism services in new projects, or in projects remodelled or extended for at least 50 percent of the property's acquisition value, located in municipalities of up to 200,000 inhabitants (DANE certification at 31 December 2022) or in PDET municipalities, with construction or remodelling completed within five years of Ley 2277 de 2022 taking effect and registration in the national tourism register (motels excluded); 15 percent for Colombian companies exclusively engaged in publishing books under Ley 98 de 1993; 9 percent for state owned companies running gambling and liquor monopolies.
Example: A qualifying new eco lodge with net taxable service income of COP 500,000,000 pays COP 75,000,000 instead of COP 175,000,000. / About US$158,307 of income: about US$23,746 of tax instead of US$55,407.Estatuto Tributario, as amended by Ley 2277 de 2022 art. 10, Art. 240, par. 1, 5 and 7, 2022-12-13 official text · verified 2026-10-26

6. Minimum tax: companies taxed under art. 240 and 240-1 (except foreign legal persons without residence in Colombia) must reach an adjusted tax rate (Tasa de Tributación Depurada, TTD) of at least 15 percent, computed as adjusted tax (net income tax plus treaty and foreign tax credits minus tax on passive CFC income) divided by adjusted book profit (pre tax book profit plus permanent differences that increase taxable income, minus non taxable income, equity method income, net occasional gains, certain exempt income and loss offsets). If the TTD is below 15 percent the shortfall is added to the tax; groups consolidated in Colombia test the rate at group level and allocate the top up among members with positive adjusted profit. ZESE companies while at 0 percent, ZOMAC companies and the 15 percent hotel and publisher regimes are excluded unless they must file a country by country report, as are the 9 percent state monopolies and companies with zero or negative adjusted profit.
Example: Adjusted book profit of COP 1,000,000,000 and adjusted tax of COP 120,000,000 (12 percent): top up of COP 150,000,000 minus COP 120,000,000 = COP 30,000,000. / About US$316,613 of adjusted profit: top up of about US$9,498.Estatuto Tributario, as amended by Ley 2277 de 2022 art. 10, Art. 240, par. 6, 2022-12-13 official text · verified 2026-10-26

7. Expenses are deductible if incurred in the year in a revenue generating activity, causally related to it, necessary and proportionate by commercial criteria; expenses arising from intentional crimes are never deductible. Taxes, fees and contributions actually paid and related to the business are 100 percent deductible, except income tax itself; 50 percent of the financial transactions tax (GMF) is deductible if certified by the withholding agent; wealth tax is not deductible.Estatuto Tributario, art. 107 as amended by Ley 1819 de 2016 art. 62; art. 115 as amended by Ley 2277 de 2022 art. 19, Art. 107 (first to third paragraphs); art. 115 (first and second paragraphs, par. 2), 2022-12-13 official text · verified 2026-10-26

8. Payments abroad are deductible only if the Colombian payer withheld income tax where the payment is taxable income in Colombia for the recipient. Costs and expenses incurred abroad to earn Colombian source income are capped at 15 percent of net taxable income computed before them, except payments subject to withholding, purchases of tangible goods, legally required payments such as customs certification, interest to multilateral lenders and the items of art. 25. Payments to jurisdictions classified as non cooperative, low or no tax, or to preferential regimes, are not deductible unless income tax was withheld where due.
Example: Net income before foreign costs of COP 1,000,000,000: foreign costs not subject to withholding are deductible up to COP 150,000,000. / About US$316,613 of net income: cap of about US$47,492.Estatuto Tributario, art. 121; art. 122 as amended by Ley 1819 de 2016 art. 71; art. 124-2 as amended by Ley 1819 de 2016 art. 74, Art. 121, art. 122 (num. 1 to 5) and art. 124-2, 2016-12-29 official text · verified 2026-10-26

9. Certain listed tax benefits taken together (non taxable income, special deductions, exempt income and tax credits under art. 107-2, 255 and 257-1 of the Estatuto and specific articles of Ley 30 de 1992, Ley 397 de 1997, Ley 789 de 2002, Ley 1257 de 2008 and Ley 1493 de 2011) may not exceed 3 percent a year of ordinary net income computed before those special deductions; any excess is added back to the tax through the formula VAA = (DE + RE + INCRNGO) x rate + DT minus 3 percent of that income. Benefits not listed are not capped.Estatuto Tributario, added by Ley 2277 de 2022 art. 14, Art. 259-1, 2022-12-13 official text · verified 2026-10-26

10. Presumptive income, a minimum taxable income based on prior year net equity, has been 0 percent from tax year 2021, so companies with losses or low profits are not taxed on a deemed return on equity.Estatuto Tributario, as amended by Ley 2010 de 2019 art. 90, Art. 188, 2019-12-27 official text · verified 2026-10-26

11. Colombian companies may credit foreign income tax paid on foreign source income against Colombian tax on the same income, up to the Colombian tax on that income, net of attributable costs and expenses. For dividends from foreign subsidiaries held as fixed assets (directly or indirectly, excluding non voting shares), an indirect credit is available based on the effective tax rate on the underlying profits plus any dividend withholding, supported by a foreign tax certificate and a statutory auditor certificate. Unused credits may be carried to later years, limited to Colombian tax on foreign income of the same kind.Estatuto Tributario, as amended by Ley 2010 de 2019 art. 93, Art. 254 (first and second paragraphs, lit. a to f, par. 1), 2019-12-27 official text · verified 2026-10-26

12. Income taxpayers pay an advance on next year's tax of 75 percent of the current year's net income tax (or the average of the last two years, at the taxpayer's option), less withholdings suffered in the year; first time filers pay 25 percent in the first year and 50 percent in the second.
Example: Net income tax of COP 350,000,000 and withholdings of COP 60,000,000 in an established company: advance of COP 202,500,000. In its first year a new company would pay COP 27,500,000. / About US$110,815 of tax: advance of about US$64,114 (or US$8,707 in the first year).Estatuto Tributario, Art. 807, 1989-03-30 official text · verified 2026-10-26

13. Filing calendar: large taxpayers file the income tax return in April and pay in three instalments in February, April and June; other companies file and pay the first of two equal instalments in May and the second in July. Each deadline falls between the seventh and the sixteenth business day of the month according to the last digit of the tax identification number (NIT).Decreto 1625 de 2016 (Decreto Único Reglamentario en Materia Tributaria), as replaced by Decreto 2229 de 2023 art. 1, Art. 1.6.1.13.2.11 and art. 1.6.1.13.2.12, 2023-12-22 official text · verified 2026-10-26

Taxpayer	Rate	Norm
General rate	35%	Estatuto Tributario art. 240
Financial institutions and insurers, taxable income of 120,000 UVT or more, 2023 to 2027	40%	Art. 240 par. 2
Hydroelectric generators, taxable income of 30,000 UVT or more, 2023 to 2026	38%	Art. 240 par. 4
Coal mining, taxable income of 50,000 UVT or more	35% plus 0, 5 or 10 points by price	Art. 240 par. 3
Crude oil, taxable income of 50,000 UVT or more	35% plus 0, 5, 10 or 15 points by price	Art. 240 par. 3
Qualifying new or remodelled hotels, ecotourism and agrotourism, ten years	15%	Art. 240 par. 5
Book publishers	15%	Art. 240 par. 7
Free trade zone industrial users, export share	20% on export share, 35% on the rest	Art. 240-1 (see taxes/tax-incentives)
Occasional gains (assets held two years or more)	15%	Art. 313 (see taxes/capital-gains)
Minimum tax	Top up to 15% of adjusted book profit	Art. 240 par. 6

Colombian income tax rates for companies in force on 26 October 2026

Step	COP	Approx. USD
Book profit before tax	1,200,000,000	US$379,936
Add non deductible items (for example 50 percent of GMF and expenses without withholding)	100,000,000	US$31,661
Net taxable income	1,300,000,000	US$411,597
Income tax at 35%	455,000,000	US$144,059
TTD test: 455,000,000 / 1,300,000,000 adjusted profit = 35%, no top up	0	0
Withholdings suffered during the year (credit)	80,000,000	US$25,329
Advance for 2027 at 75% less withholdings	261,250,000	US$82,715

Worked example: Colombian SAS owned from abroad, tax year 2026, at the TRM of COP 3,158.43

Worked example

A foreign parent setting up a services SAS in Bogotá with net taxable income of COP 1,300,000,000 (about US$411,597) pays COP 455,000,000 (about US$144,059) of income tax, then 20 percent withholding on any dividend paid out (see taxes/withholding-on-remittances).
A hotel group building a new eco lodge in a PDET municipality, finished within the five year window and registered in the national tourism register, pays 15 percent on that service income for ten years, but the 15 percent minimum tax still applies to the rest of a group that must file a country by country report.

Step by step

Register the company in the RUT before it starts operating and obtain the NIT (see start/start-here).
Decide whether management decisions will be taken in Colombia or abroad: the effective place of management test in art. 12-1 can make a foreign holding company Colombian resident.
For a branch, set up separate accounts and the functions, assets, risks and personnel study required by art. 20-2 from day one.
Before year end, check the 15 percent foreign cost cap (art. 122), the 3 percent benefit cap (art. 259-1) and that every payment abroad bore withholding (art. 121, 124-2).
Prepare the TTD minimum tax computation alongside the return (art. 240 par. 6).
File the return and pay in the May and July instalments (large taxpayers: February, April and June), on the business day set by the last digit of the NIT (Decreto 1625 de 2016 art. 1.6.1.13.2.11 and 1.6.1.13.2.12), including the advance for the next year (art. 807).

Common traps

Holding board meetings in Colombia does not make a foreign company resident, but taking day to day management decisions there does (art. 12-1 par. 1 and 2).
Any payment abroad on which withholding was due but not applied is non deductible (art. 121), so a missed withholding costs the 35 percent deduction plus the withholding itself and penalties.
The 15 percent minimum tax uses book profit: large exempt income or timing differences can trigger a top up even when the return shows little taxable income (art. 240 par. 6).
Financial sector surtax and hydroelectric surtax carry a 100 percent advance on the surtax, payable in two instalments the following year (art. 240 par. 2 and 4).
First year companies pay only a 25 percent advance (art. 807), so cash needs jump in the second and third years.
Pending bill 004 de 2026 Cámara (in committee on 26 October 2026) would widen the financial surtax to 15 points; nothing changes unless it is enacted (see taxes/tax-system-overview).

Sources

Related: Colombia country profile · live dashboard · central bank and release calendar · our posts on X · where Argentina is involved, see The Argentine Thread guide

← Taxes in Colombia: corporate income tax, withholding on payments abroad, VAT and local taxesWithholding tax on dividends, interest, royalties, services and other payments from Colombia to non residents →