COLOMBIA

On June 16 Congress published a bill introduced by several Representatives and Senators of Centro Democrático (ruling party) and allied parties. The initiative modifies Article 240 of the Tax Statute regarding the Income Tax (IR in Spanish) for legal entities. In this sense, it proposes a surtax of 3% of the IR for financial system companies. In the short term it will be sent to a Committee of the House of Representatives.

According to the initiative, the general income tax rate will be 34% until 2031 for national corporations and their assimilated companies, permanent establishments of foreign entities and foreign legal entities with or without residence in the country, which are obliged to file the annual income tax return and complementary taxes. Such value will drop to 31% in 2032, and will be 30% as from 2033.

In this line, the bill increases from 34% to 37% the IR that companies in the banking sector, supervised by the Financial Superintendency of Colombia, will have to pay for the years 2022, 2023 and 2024. 50% of the proceeds of this surcharge will be used to finance micro-credits for micro, small and medium-sized companies. Finally, as of 2031, taxpayers will be able to take 100% of the tax on industry and commerce, notices and boards as IR tax discount.