The Minister of Finance and the director of the Dian gave details of the adjustment to the project.
News Colombia.
The Ministry of Finance and the National Tax and Customs Directorate (DIAN) announced this Friday an important modification to the draft decree that regulates withholding at source for payments made through electronic means. The decision was made after several meetings with unions and representatives of the financial sector, who had expressed concern about the impact that the initial measure would have on the liquidity of small merchants.
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Initially, the decree contemplated a 1.5% withholding for all electronic transactions, which generated a strong reaction among businessmen, digital entrepreneurs and users of payment platforms, who warned of a possible disincentive to the use of electronic means and a setback in the digitalization of the economy.
Given this situation, the Ministry of Finance, Germán Ávila Plazas, decided to modify the rate and reduce it to 0%, that is, eliminate the withholding at source on these operations. With this, the Government seeks to promote the use of digital tools, promote the formalization of small businesses and strengthen the transition towards a more transparent and cashless economy.
The measure, as explained by the head of that portfolio, aims to “incentive for the use of digital and electronic media in the key of greater transparency and modernity in the transactions and payments of people and companies.”
#Attentive | The Minister of Finance, Germán Avila, assured that given the comments received on the draft decree that sought to tax transactions made by electronic means, they decided not to apply withholding at source in order to encourage the use of these payments. pic.twitter.com/sHakMMCTFR
— Diario La República (@larepublica_co) November 7, 2025
Furthermore, the DIAN emphasized that the generalized withholding of 1.5%, even though they aimed to correct the regulatory asymmetry between these two major payment environments, “could encourage excessive use of cash”which weakens the scope of verification of transaction traceability, which is a very useful tool in our fight against evasion and smuggling.
Our general director (e), Carlos Emilio Betancourt, together with the @MinHaciendaGermán Ávila, announce the modification to the draft decree of withholding at source for payments by electronic means:
The withholding will go from 1.5% to 0%.More trust and transparency in… pic.twitter.com/wgn0oszxKX
— DIANColombia (@DIANColombia) November 7, 2025
With this modification, the Executive sends a message of flexibility and dialogue with the country’s businessmen. The new text of the decree will be published in the coming days for final comments before its entry into force, which is expected to occur before the end of 2025.
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