Colombia's tax authority already knows about your foreign bank account. Since 2017, foreign financial institutions have reported Colombian tax residents' account details straight to the DIAN under CRS, automatically, every year. Whether you've reported that same account back to Colombia is a separate question — and the form that answers it, Formulario 160, is the one most new residents never hear about until a penalty notice arrives.

The threshold is low. The filing is annual. And the gap between what the DIAN already sees and what you've actually declared is your entire exposure.

Who Has to File

You must file Formulario 160 if you're a Colombian tax resident and your total foreign assets exceed 2,000 UVT as of 1 January of the reporting year. For 2026, that's COP 104,748,000 — approximately USD 32,460 or CAD 44,570.

That's total assets, not net wealth. Debt against a foreign asset doesn't reduce the number. Everything held outside Colombia counts toward it: bank and brokerage accounts, retirement accounts still in your name (RRSPs, 401(k)s, superannuation, ISAs), real property, private company shares, cryptocurrency, foundations, trusts, insurance policies with cash surrender value, loans owed to you.

Aggregate or Itemized: What You Actually Report

Above the 2,000 UVT filing threshold, how you report an asset depends on its individual value.

• Below 3,580 UVT (roughly USD 58,000)
  Reporting treatment: Reported in aggregate, as a total

• Above 3,580 UVT (roughly USD 58,000)
  Reporting treatment: Listed individually — country, type, and value

Values are converted to pesos at the DIAN's official 1 January exchange rate for each currency.

When You File

Formulario 160 runs on a calendar rolling deadline tied to the last two digits of your NIT, typically falling somewhere between April and October. The DIAN publishes the calendar each year. Missing your specific date triggers a penalty whether or not you owe any tax.

The Penalties

Late filing costs 0.5% of the total value of your foreign assets for every month of delay — capped, but rising fast in the meantime. Never filing at all can cost up to 5% of the total value, plus separate penalties on any underlying income that should have been declared alongside it. In serious cases, the DIAN can reclassify undisclosed foreign assets as taxable Colombian income — meaning your entire foreign portfolio's value, not just its earnings, becomes exposed.

Compare that to the cost of doing it right: filing it yourself costs nothing, and an accountant charges a few hundred dollars. There is no version of this where non-compliance is the cheaper option.

Where People Trip Up

The biggest mistake is assuming the form only covers income-producing assets. It doesn't. A dormant RRSP, an unused foreign bank account, a piece of inherited overseas land — all of it counts.

The second is assuming the DIAN doesn't know. It does. Your foreign bank reports your account to Colombia every year regardless of whether you do.

The third is assuming an M-Pensionado visa exempts you. It doesn't. Tax residency triggers the filing requirement, not visa category.

If You've Already Missed It

If you should have filed in prior years and didn't, you have options, but they need professional handling. Voluntary regularization is consistently cheaper than being caught after the fact. The DIAN periodically opens formal amnesty windows, and even outside those windows, a structured voluntary disclosure usually produces a materially better outcome than doing nothing and hoping.

Doing nothing is the one option that reliably gets worse over time.

What to Do With This

If you're a Colombian tax resident and think you've missed a Formulario 160 filing — this year's or an earlier one — book a scoping call built around exposure modeling. Bring your last three years of foreign account statements. We'll tell you, before you file anything, what regularization actually costs against what waiting costs.

This article summarizes general rules current as of 2026. Thresholds, deadlines, and penalty rates change with each tax reform, and how they apply to you depends on your residency history and asset mix. Confirm your specific position with a qualified adviser before you act.