Although it seeks to relieve the immediate fiscal crisis, experts warn about negative effects in the medium term.
News Colombia.
In the midst of a complex fiscal panorama, the National Government has put on the table a draft decree that seeks to deeply modify the retention scheme at the source.
This mechanism –One of the main anticipated collection channels of the Income Tax in Colombia– You could experience changes that directly affect companies from different sectors and independent workers.
According to information revealed by Week, Time and Blu Radiothe draft of the decree was already published for public comments and would be in force, if approved, in the second semester of 2025. The National Tax and Customs Directorate (DIAN) will receive observations until April 25.
Among the proposed changes, a substantial modification to the thresholds of application application.(National Government gave date on which new internal shock taxes will begin to apply for the Catatumbo)
For example, No retention would be practiced on payments for services whose individual quantity is less than two units of tax value (UVT)that is, about 100,000 pesos by 2025.
It is also contemplated Replace article 1.2.4.6.7 of Decree 1625 of 2016in relation to purchases of agricultural or livestock goods without industrial processing. According to Time, These operations would be exempt from retention if they do not exceed 70 UVT. In case of exceeding them, the applicable rate would be 1.5 %.
Another relevant adjustment is coffee retention. Parchment or cherry purchases below 70 UVT would not have retention.
In the case of Gold, the project establishes a 2.5 % rate on the total value of payment when it is purchases by international marketing companies.
Changes to Self -Retention
The most delicate aspect of the decree lies in the modification of the rates of Self -retention at the source for income tax. This would especially impact sectors such as the mining-energy.
Week warns that For the coal industry, the rate would rise 3.2 %to 5.5 %, which implies an increase of 72 %. For crude oil, it would go from 5.6 % to 7 %.
Other activities such as natural gas extraction, clothing and certain crops, With tight rates between 1.2 % and 4.5 %.
“When making changes in the Self -Retention Rate of the companies, the impact on the box that will generate these provisions in the 2026 will be reduced and a distribution of the collection in various payments will be allowed during validity 2025”Said the draft cited by Blu Radio .
Cash and domino effect crisis
The adjustment is not accidental. The government faces a worrying fall in the tax collection. According to DIAN figures, collected by Time in January 2025 the collection was 1.9 billion pesos lower than the projected.
Despite having reached 32.4 billion pesos – 6 % more than the same month of the previous year – the figure did not cover the executive’s expectations.
The gap between the proceeds and the estimated could be between 20 and 34 billion pesos, according to calculations from the Bagotá Bank and the Autonomous Committee of the Fiscal Rule (CARF).
The president of the National Association of Financial Institutions (ANIF), José Ignacio López, warned through his account in X (formerly Twitter) that “Increasing withholdings at the source can help solve the problem of the government’s cash”
🚨 Submitting withholdings at the source can help solve the government’s cash problem, but will result in a fiscal income drop in the future -given that withholdings are tax advances. In addition, bad calibration can affect liquidity and …
– Jose Ignacio Lopez (@Joseilopez) April 14, 2025
Legal or unconstitutional?
Although at first glance the changes may require legislative procedure, experts consulted by Weekas Miguel Fandiño of PricewaterhouseCoopers, they ensure that the Executive does have the power to make these modifications by decree, based on article 365 of the Tax Statute.
One of the biggest risks, according to analysts cited by Blu Radiois that the massive anticipation of the collection affects the Companies liquiditylimiting its capacity for operation and investment.
This could stop the economic reactivation that the country urgently needs in the middle of an uncertain global environment.
In addition, the measure would have a deferred effect: In 2026, when there is a new government, the impact of having anticipated so many income could translate into a fiscal vacuum difficult to cover.
«The underlying problem is structural. Instead of correcting the basis of the tax system, short -term solutions that compromise future stability continue to go«, Concludes an analysis published by Time.
Also read:
