Colombian tax residency rules for Americans

Your visa decides whether you may live in Colombia. Your days in the country decide whether Colombia taxes you as a resident. The two often line up, but not always: a digital nomad can become a tax resident in the first year, and a pension visa holder who spends long periods in the US may not. The DIAN, Colombia's tax authority, sets out the criteria. This guide explains how they work for Americans, including dual US-Colombian citizens, and what changes once you are a resident.

The main rule: more than 183 days

The DIAN considers a natural person a Colombian tax resident if they stay in Colombia, continuously or not, for more than 183 calendar days, including days of entry and departure, during any period of 365 consecutive calendar days.

Three details matter:

1. Entry and exit days count. A day you land and a day you leave are both days in Colombia.
2. Any 365-day window. The test is not limited to the calendar year. A period that straddles two years can trigger residence.
3. Straddling two years. When the stay that crosses the 183-day line falls over more than one tax year, the DIAN considers the person a resident from the second year or tax period.

Example: you arrive in Colombia on September 1 and stay until the following June. Your days in the first calendar year are fewer than 183, but within a 365-day window you exceed 183. Under the DIAN rule, you are treated as resident from the second year.

Rules for Colombian nationals

The DIAN lists additional criteria that apply only to Colombian nationals. These matter for Americans who also hold Colombian citizenship, by birth or naturalization. A national is a tax resident in a given year if, among other conditions:

• Their spouse or permanent partner, not legally separated, or their dependent minor children are tax residents in Colombia.
• 50 percent or more of their income is Colombian source.
• 50 percent or more of their assets are managed in Colombia.
• 50 percent or more of their assets are deemed held in Colombia.
• When required by the DIAN, they fail to prove tax residence abroad.
• Their tax residence is in a jurisdiction classified by the government as a tax haven.

Nationals who are resident abroad prove it to the DIAN with a tax residence certificate or equivalent document from the country where they live. The DIAN also sets exceptions to some of these criteria for nationals with most of their income or assets abroad. Dual citizens should read the full DIAN text for their situation.

Diplomatic staff and their families in the Colombian foreign service are covered by a separate rule.

What residence changes

Residents are taxed on worldwide income and must report worldwide assets: Colombian and foreign salaries, pensions, interest, dividends, rental income and capital gains. Your US bank and brokerage accounts count.

Non-residents are taxed only on Colombian-source income and assets in Colombia. Colombian employers and payers withhold tax on payments to non-residents at the rates in the law.

Residents may also have to file an annual income tax return if they meet the filing thresholds for income, assets, consumption or deposits for the year.

Filing deadlines

Individual deadlines depend on the last two digits of your NIT, the tax ID number assigned when you register in the RUT. For tax year 2025, the DIAN calendar set filing dates from August 12 to October 26, 2026. You need a RUT to file; our guide on the RUT and NIT explains how foreigners register.

Keeping a day count

Because residence depends on a rolling window, keep your own record:

• Save boarding passes and passport stamps.
• Keep a simple spreadsheet with every entry and exit date.
• Note the visa or permit you used for each stay, since Migración Colombia counts visitor days per calendar year.

The same records help on the US side, where the physical presence test for the foreign earned income exclusion requires 330 full days abroad in 12 consecutive months.

How Colombian residence interacts with US taxes

The United States taxes its citizens on worldwide income regardless of residence. There is no US-Colombia income tax treaty on the IRS treaty list, so no treaty tie-breaker decides which country has the primary claim. In practice:

• Income taxed in Colombia can generate a US foreign tax credit, claimed on Form 1116.
• Qualifying foreign earned income can be excluded from US tax with Form 2555, up to $130,000 for 2025 and $132,900 for 2026.
• You report Colombian accounts on the FBAR if their combined value exceeds $10,000 at any time in the year.

Becoming a Colombian resident does not end your US filing obligation, and leaving Colombia does not end your Colombian obligations for the years you were resident.

Visa status and tax residence are separate

• Holding a visa does not make you a tax resident by itself.
• Not holding a visa does not prevent tax residence if you exceed 183 days.
• Visitors are limited by Migración Colombia to 180 days per calendar year, but a stay that straddles two years can still exceed 183 days in a 365-day window.

Questions to settle before you move

1. When will you cross 183 days in any 365-day window?
2. Which year will be your first Colombian resident year under the two-year rule?
3. What US income and assets will you report in Colombia?
4. Do you need a RUT, and by when?
5. Will Colombian tax paid be creditable on your US return for the same income?

Common scenarios

Digital nomad arriving in January. You cross 183 days around early July of the same year, so you are a Colombian tax resident for that year and report worldwide income, including your US salary, on the Colombian return due the following year.

Retiree splitting time. You spend October to March in Colombia and April to September in the US. Each 365-day window holds about six months in Colombia. Count carefully: depending on exact dates and entry and exit days, you can land just above or just below 183 days. A few extra weeks either way change your status.

Employee transferred in mid-year. You start a Colombian job on August 1 and stay. The 183-day threshold is crossed early the following year, and under the two-year rule you are resident from the second year. Your Colombian employer withholds tax on your salary from the start, at the rates that apply to your status.

Short-term visitor. Visitors are limited to 180 days per calendar year by Migración Colombia. A visitor who uses 180 days at the end of one year and more days early the next can still exceed 183 days in a 365-day window, and the visitor permit does not prevent tax residence.

Leaving Colombia

When you leave, keep proof of the date and of your new residence. If you remain registered in the RUT, update your address and status. For the last year you were resident, you still file the Colombian return if you meet the thresholds, and you report the income for that year on both returns.

Common questions

When do I become a Colombian tax resident? When you spend more than 183 calendar days in Colombia, continuous or not and counting entry and exit days, within any 365-day period.

What if my 183 days span two calendar years? The DIAN treats you as a resident from the second year or tax period when the qualifying stay falls over more than one year.

Are Colombian tax residents taxed on US income? Yes. Residents are taxed on worldwide income and report worldwide assets. Non-residents are taxed only on Colombian-source income.