Living in Colombia

[Igor54]

Routard, what are your thoughts on medical tourism in Colombia (dental, cosmetic), business as a travel agency (sex tourism to Bogotá), marriage agency (Colombians to US or Canada)?

Thanks.

[Routard]

If you want to live in Colombia, this might interest you: I am selling my company. It's a tecnical oriented BtoB company based in Bogota with clients nation wide, good reputation as we are leader in our market and profitable as we don't have competitors in Colombia. It will give you permanent residency in Colombia as well as incomes to live. Just contact me through PM for more information.

[Routard]

I have not got into details but there is ongoing tax reform.

Yes, it's since 1 of January. Basically VAT rises from 16 till 19%, the rest is very technical and concerns more accounting.

[Questner]

I have not got into details but there is ongoing tax reform.

[Routard]

Routard are there any local income taxes?

Yes, it's the so called ICA, but only for companies. It's a % upon sales depending on cities, in Bogota it's around 0. 9%. There is also a tax on real estate, but can't really comment it as I'm not concerned.

[Dccpa]

Routard are there any local income taxes? In the US there can be state, county or even city income taxes.

Based upon my experience with state income tax returns, you effectively pay the higher of the two tax rates.

JjBee62 thanks for the link. The 25% exemption is nice and the office home expenses are worth learning about.

[Routard]

Outstanding report Routard. Only thing I would add is regarding capital controls. The author of one of the overseas living newsletters claims that at the time you bring money into Colombia, you have to declare that money as investment money. Otherwise you cannot take that money back out of Colombia. Since Colombia taxes worldwide income, I will run various income scenarios and post them here.

Edit to add information:

Wiki link https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taxation_in_Colombia

Income Range in UVT Tax Rate
0 to 1,400 0%
>1,400 to 1,700 19%
>1,700 to 4,100 28%
>4,100 33%

The UVT = about $10USD. It looks like amounts over $17000USD are taxed at 28% and over $41000USD are taxed at 33%. Unless there are ways to legally reduce the taxable income, those are fairly high income tax rates and much higher than US income tax rates.

For a single US person, the first $10,000 would be negated by standard deduction and exemption.

For $17000 Colombia tax = $570, US tax = $700 If the income was Social security, the US tax would be -0-

For $41000 Colombia tax = $7290, US tax = $4186 Again if $15-20,000 was Social security, most of the US income would not be taxed and the taxes could be as low as around $800.

True if coming from USA. But coming from Europe income tax in Colombia is lower. Important is to check also if Colombia has a double taxation agreement with your home country. If not, I would definitively not declare incomes from that country, you might end up paying tax in both countries. DIAN would anyway have no way to find out you have those incomes abroad. If there is a double taxation agreement, both countries are supposed to share information. then you definitively have to declare income from your home country but you can deduct in Colombia tax you had to pay in your home country.

[JjBee62]

Outstanding report Routard. Only thing I would add is regarding capital controls. The author of one of the overseas living newsletters claims that at the time you bring money into Colombia, you have to declare that money as investment money. Otherwise you cannot take that money back out of Colombia. Since Colombia taxes worldwide income, I will run various income scenarios and post them here.

Edit to add information:

Wiki link https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taxation_in_Colombia

Income Range in UVT Tax Rate
0 to 1,400 0%
>1,400 to 1,700 19%
>1,700 to 4,100 28%
>4,100 33%

The UVT = about $10USD. It looks like amounts over $17000USD are taxed at 28% and over $41000USD are taxed at 33%. Unless there are ways to legally reduce the taxable income, those are fairly high income tax rates and much higher than US income tax rates.

For a single US person, the first $10,000 would be negated by standard deduction and exemption.

For $17000 Colombia tax = $570, US tax = $700 If the income was Social security, the US tax would be -0-

For $41000 Colombia tax = $7290, US tax = $4186 Again if $15-20,000 was Social security, most of the US income would not be taxed and the taxes could be as low as around $800.

Here's a useful article on some of the ins and outs of taxes in Colombia:

http://medellinliving.com/filing-taxes-colombia/

Definitely an area to seek expert advice on.

[Dccpa]

Outstanding report Routard. Only thing I would add is regarding capital controls. The author of one of the overseas living newsletters claims that at the time you bring money into Colombia, you have to declare that money as investment money. Otherwise you cannot take that money back out of Colombia. Since Colombia taxes worldwide income, I will run various income scenarios and post them here.

Edit to add information:

Wiki link https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taxation_in_Colombia

Income Range in UVT[5] Tax Rate
0 to 1,400 0%
>1,400 to 1,700 19%
>1,700 to 4,100 28%
>4,100 33%

The UVT = about $10USD. It looks like amounts over $17000USD are taxed at 28% and over $41000USD are taxed at 33%. Unless there are ways to legally reduce the taxable income, those are fairly high income tax rates and much higher than US income tax rates.

For a single US person, the first $10,000 would be negated by standard deduction and exemption.

For $17000 Colombia tax = $570, US tax = $700 If the income was Social security, the US tax would be -0-

For $41000 Colombia tax = $7290, US tax = $4186 Again if $15-20,000 was Social security, most of the US income would not be taxed and the taxes could be as low as around $800.

[The Tall Man]

In my 12-15 years reading and posting in this forum and others. I have never seen a better post, completely unbiased, straight forward, detailed to the tee, informative than Routard's post below. This deserves special recognition.

Thank you.

TTM.

[CPlusPlus]

Routard's original Bogota list / detailed post was one of the better posts I have ever read in this website, but I have to say this living in Colombia post is something else, what an incredible amount of detailed information, impossible to ask questions once you read his whole post he basically covered every fucking thing there is to know about Colombia its fucking incredible I am 100% certain that the info he posted is more detailed and valuable than anything you would find at a dictionary sized Colombia guide book you would buy here in the states LOL.

I am a young lad so I am not in that retirement / pension age yet but I already have close to $25 k USD in capital savings in my Bank of America account, so I suppose I could apply for a TP7 Visa, but however I have no idea what in the hell I would do there LOL I am a waiter / bartender here in the states at a fine dining / high end restaurant, low skill job for sure considering I have a degree but I worked in a 9-5 office job before and I preferred to go back to serving, I make around the same maybe with not as much potential for growth as a server / bartender but a lot more lax and easy for sure LOL. Thinking I could open a restaurant there but I think I would prefer to that here LOL plates of food are about 4 times cheaper there no matter what category of food it is plus restaurants are over-saturated there so there is already to much competition. In my case I think I just will stay working here go every 3-4 months like I have been doing to Colombia for a week fresh getaways fucking bitches, drinking and having fun, plus its not like I am not getting pussy here in the states like I imagine its the case with other men here in this forum, but however I agree rhat I can't do 5+ Morboso sexy hooker orgies here in the states which I can easily do in Colombia LOL.

[JohnBwoi]

This report right here makes my membership worth it. Thank you kind sir for the info. Colombia is indeed an amazing country.

START YOUR OWN BUSINESS.

In Northern America or Europe, it's better to be employee, in Colombia it's better to employ. Starting your own business, this is the very best option if you want to live in Colombia. With just 25 000 $ of capital, you can apply for TP7 visa and live permanently as an investor in Colombia. In 2 days you can create your own company and unlike Asia, Africa or Middle East, a local partner is not necessary. Foreign investment is guaranteed to be able to get out of the country the dividends and the capital at any time. Any new company is exempted of income tax during 2 years and it goes gradually up the next 3 years. There is a perfect complete guide on http://www.procolombia.co/ for anyone willing to start a business in Colombia. Only problem is that it is a promotional document from authorities, my presentation is more realistic as I went through all the problems also.

If you want to create a company, easiest is to use a lawyer, it will cost you 600 000. However, it is that easy that you can do it alone. Go to "Camara de Comercio de Bogota" http://www.ccb.org.co/or the one in the city where you want to locate your business and ask for free assessment to explain what to do. You will have to fill in a form and hand over a couple of documents and the next day you have your "Certificado de Camara de Comercio" . With this you have to go DIAN http://www.dian.gov.co/, the tax administration....

[Surfer500]

I guess most of travelling mongers dream of living as a king in a tropical paradise surrounded by pretty young girls instead of a boring life in a sad city with his angry old wife.

I have traveled over 80 different countries before I felt in love of Colombia and decided to settle here. It's of course very personal, but having travelled so much, it gives me some kind of legitimacy when it comes to comparison.

I have my own company here, a good knowledge of the Colombian industrial sector and a good network of contacts. If you have any plans to start a business and need some info or advice, feel free to pm me. I would be glad to help you on the same way as other expats helped me when I started my business.

Colombia has a bad reputation, but I use to say that those who criticize Colombia are those who have never been there. I have never met a foreigner that has visited Colombia and that didn't love the country:

- Amazing diversity in nature, landscape, climate due to huge differences in altitude, Pacific and Atlantic Coast, desert, mountain, jungle.

- The best people you can meet: educated, friendly, open minded, welcoming, fun. Due to history, the country has not been spoiled by tourism..

If this isn't a report of distinction I don't know what is. Great information as I am in the process of setting roots here myself after visiting so many other countries.

[JjBee62]

I may need to pick your brain on some of these things.

I do have one very minor correction to make. If you shop around, many flights in Colombia are as cheap as 65,000 cop. For example, 1 way from Bogota to MDE is as low as $20, although you still need transport from Rionegro to Medellin.

Also, your bus prices are a bit high. Most are 25,000 pesos or less. They aren't really recommended unless you're heading someplace without an airport, or you want to try and enjoy the scenery.

My Colombian amiga and probably my future employer flies frequently around the country and pointed out the cheap fares. If all goes well, I'll be settling in sometime this coming spring.

Thanks for all the information.

[Jdit]

I guess most of travelling mongers dream of living as a king in a tropical paradise surrounded by pretty young girls instead of a boring life in a sad city with his angry old wife.

...relevant information to add. Anyway, if you have any questions, feel free to ask.

Wow Routard. Great briefing on many levels; valuable information. Thank you, sir. Happy New Year!