The new tax landscape with the arrival of COVID-19 and the measures adopted by the Colombian Government and the Tax Authority in our country.

COVID-19: Questions and Answers (Q&A) from the tax perspective about the Health Emergency Situation in Colombia

Regarding the presence of COVID-19 in Colombia, and the Emergency Situation declared through Decree 417 of 2020, the Colombian Government will be entitled to issue Legislative Decrees that aimed to solve the emergency situation in which we are currently involve. In line with the above, temporary modifications has been introduced in relation to social and economic issues, that can create an impact between the taxpayers and the tax administration relationship.

Within the aforementioned framework, it is important to answer some questions from a tax point of view, that are relevant taking into account the new features introduced in the legal system, considering the presence of the COVID-19 in Colombia:

1.¿How administrative proceedings or official pronouncements from the Colombian Tax Authority (CTA) will be notified during the period of health emergency cause by COVID-19?

In accordance with the Resolution 30 of 2020, during the suspension of terms, the administrative acts issued by the CTA will be notified to the taxpayers via email, the above, according with section 566 – 1 of the Colombian Tax Code (CTC).

2. ¿How credit balances refunds will be notified to taxpayers?

Considering the provisions set forth in the Resolution 30 of 2020, the credit balances refunds will be notified through conclusive conduct, when the taxpayers receives the corresponding title (“TIDIS” per its acronyms in Spanish) or, the total or partial appropriation of the requested credit balances.

3. ¿What will be the legal status of the deadlines in administrative proceedings, that the taxpayers are currently carrying out before the CTA?

According with the provisions set forth in Resolution 30 of 2020, the due dates of administrative acts, including disciplinary processes, will be suspended until the health emergency situation is finished. The CTA haven’t pointed out a specific date.

In this sense, the statute of limitations and firmness terms provided in tax laws will run again, only when this situation is finished.

4. ¿Does the suspension of terms affect the compliance deadlines in relation with tax duties or obligations of the taxpayers?

By means of Resolution 30 of 2020, the suspension of terms in tax matters does not include the following aspects:

• The fulfilment of the tax obligations regarding the filing and payment of tax returns;
• The returns and/or compensations processes requested through the Electronic Computing System (“SIE” per its acronym in Spanish) or electronic mailboxes authorized by the CTA;
• Payments facilities requested through authorized electronic mailboxes;
• Management of judicial deposit titles;
• Uprising of seizure requests made through authorized electronic mailboxes.

In addition, taxpayers must be aware about the deadlines to file and pay their tax returns, in order to avoid penalties. Some of the deadlines will be mentioned down below.

5. ¿Which are the deadlines for the filling and payment of the second installment of the income tax for major taxpayers?

According with section 1 of the Decree 435 of 2020, issued by the Colombian Ministry of Finance and Public Credit, the deadlines to file and pay the second installment of income tax of major taxpayers will depend on the last digit of the Tax Identification Number (“NIT” per its acronym in Spanish), as follows: 

Considering the above, the National Government extended the terms for the filling and payment of the second installment for major taxpayers, which was previously set forth between April 14 to April 27 of 2020.

6. ¿Which are the deadlines to file and pay the first installment of the corporate income tax for legal entities in Colombia?

According with section 1 of the Decree 435 of 2020, issued by the Colombian Ministry of Finance and Public Credit, the deadlines for filing and pay the first installment of the corporate income tax for legal entities in Colombia will depend on the last digit of the NIT, as follows:

7. ¿Which are the taxpayers who will be enabled to pay the Value Added Tax – VAT until June 30, 2020?

Considering the provisions set forth in Decree 435 of 2020, the following taxpayers will be enabled to pay the VAT return from periods March – April of 2020 and January – April 2020, until June 30, 2020:

8. ¿Which is the deadline to file and pay the Normalization Tax?

In relation to the Normalization Tax, introduced through Law 2010 of 2019, it is important to mention that, the due dates for the filling and payment of the Normalization Tax have not been modified by the recent decrees issued by the Colombian Government during the health emergency. In this sense, the deadline to fulfill the formal duties of the Normalization Tax, is September 25, 2020.

9. ¿Which were the relief measures implemented by the Colombian Government regarding the taxpayers of the Simple Tax Regime?

Through Decree 401 of 2020, the National Government modified the deadlines for the fulfillment of the advance payment of Simple Tax, obligation that must be satisfied by the that the taxpayers of the Simple Tax Regime every two months. In this sense, the due dates to file and pay the advance that corresponds to taxable year 2020, are the following:

10. ¿Which are the deadlines for the payment of the property and vehicle tax in Bogota D.C.?

In accordance with the provisions set forth in the Decree 093 of 2020, the deadline to pay the property tax for residential and non-residential properties, is extended to June 5^th, 2020 with a discount of 10% on the value of the tax or, until June 26^th of 2020, without the application of the aforementioned discount. This regulation is applicable to all of the taxpayers.

On the other hand, regarding the vehicle tax, the deadline provided to pay this tax, will be until July 3^rd of 2020 with a 10% discount, or until July 24^th without discount.

Faced with the new circumstances that may affect the fiscal status of the taxpayers, we will be sending the corresponding updates.