Yes, Colombia has a wealth tax, and if you’re eligible it could apply to your global net worth.

The Colombian wealth tax (Impuesto al Patrimonio) is one of the most-feared items on the standard "moving to Colombia" checklist. It's also one of the most misunderstood.

The threshold is high enough to exclude most nomads and expats, but still much lower than you might expect. The rates are moderate. And the planning options for those who do cross it are real. Here's the honest picture.

Who Must Pay

The wealth tax applies to Colombian tax residents whose net worldwide wealth on 1 January exceeds 72,000 UVT. It also applies to the Colombian assets of non-Colombian tax residents if their Colombian net wealth exceeds that same threshold.

For 2026 that's COP 3,770,928,000 — approximately USD $1.15 million or EUR €1.05 million.

That's net wealth: defined as the value of all assets everywhere minus all debts. Below the threshold, you owe nothing and file nothing under this tax. Above this threshold, filing is mandatory for all Colombian tax residents (see our article on Colombian tax residency if you’re unsure whether you’ll be legally considered a ‘tax resident’).

This often catches out retirees and late-career expats more than younger expats, purely because of the accumulation of wealth you have over a lifetime. For example, for a retiree with a paid-off house worth USD $800,000, an investment portfolio worth USD $250,000, and a few new-ish german cars with no financing, the wealth tax will apply, even if all of those assets are held outside of Colombia.

For HNW retirees with substantial investment portfolios, multiple properties, or business assets, it definitely does apply and needs planning.

The Rates

The tax is tiered. Rates apply only to the excess above each bracket:

Up to 72,000 UVT (about USD $1.17M) = 0% of total net wealth.

72,000 to 122,000 UVT (about USD 1.17M to 1.98M) = 0.5% of total net wealth.

122,000 to 239,000 UVT (about USD 1.98M to 3.88M) = 1.0% of total net wealth.

Above 239,000 UVT (over USD 3.88M) = 1.5% of total net wealth.

At USD $2 million of net wealth, the annual wealth tax bill is roughly USD $4,000 per annum for as long as you’re a tax resident. At USD $5 million, roughly USD $30,000p.a. Not trivial, but not confiscatory either.

What's Included in the Base

Everything. Colombian real estate, Colombian bank accounts, Colombian shares. Foreign real estate, foreign bank accounts, foreign investment portfolios, foreign retirement accounts (RRSPs, superannuation, IRAs, private pension funds — yes, even these), foreign private company interests, cryptocurrency, art, cars, collectibles above a threshold.

Liabilities are subtracted: mortgages, personal debts, loans. The tax is on net wealth, not gross.

What's Excluded

The first 12,000 UVT (about USD $200,000) of the value of your primary habitual residence (your Colombian home, if it's your main dwelling) is deducted from the wealth tax base.

Some pension reserves are excluded, though the rules here are narrow.

Certain productive rural land can qualify for exclusions.

The list of exclusions is more limited than in comparable countries. Assume something is in the base unless a specific exclusion applies.

Non-Residents

Colombian non-residents pay wealth tax only on their Colombian-situs wealth. If you own a Colombian property worth USD $2 million but live in Panama, you owe wealth tax only on the Colombian property.

The 72,000 UVT threshold applies here too — most non-resident owners of a single Colombian home don't hit it.

How this applies to shareholders of private companies

A regular point of confusion (and a grey area ripe for argument if not documented correctly) is shares in private companies. The reason they’re confusing is because, as many small business owners would know, the value of shares in private companies (e.g. LLCs, etc.) is often subjective and highly theoretical - e.g. if you’re an American startup founder living in Colombia who sells a 1% stake in your startup for USD $12,000 and you own the other 99% (and assuming no other debts or assets) you’re now on-paper worth USD $1,188,000 - and are eligible to pay the wealth tax - even if your startup is yet to make a single dollar.

Even if you haven’t sold shares or made an exit, your global net wealth will still be assessed - but who assesses it and the methodology used can give wildly different on-paper valuations.

If you own stakes in private companies and are concerned about how your ‘global net wealth’ will be assessed by the Colombian DIAN (tax authorities), you need to get ahead of the ball by getting a favourable assessment done privately and declaring this figure to DIAN. Trust us, you’d rather FTR’s partner accountants make the assessment on favourable terms rather than the DIAN auditors, who - as all good tax official do - tend to lean towards methods that inflatto trigger more tax where there’s insufficient information provided.

Planning Options for Those Who Do Cross

For expats whose wealth genuinely crosses the threshold, there are structural options — each with trade-offs.

Timing your move: your first Colombian wealth tax obligation is based on your 1 January net wealth after you become a tax resident. Moving in January vs November of the same year can shift when the first year of wealth tax applies.

Holding investment portfolios through a Panamanian structure: this does not eliminate the wealth tax (the value of your interest in the structure is still in the base), but it can affect valuation methodology and simplify reporting. It also opens succession-planning benefits that are often the bigger win for HNW retirees. Additionally, there are some structures available in which you could actually not technically be the owner of a portfolio (similar to the concept of a common-law family trust structure) if the potential asset protection benefit and savings justify the structure.

Debt structuring: legitimate debt against assets reduces the base. Some retirees carry mortgage debt they could otherwise pay off, precisely because it reduces net wealth for this purpose.

Distributing wealth to family: transfers to heirs during life reduce the base going forward but trigger their own tax and legal considerations.

None of these are one-size-fits-all. Each needs to be modelled against the individual's actual asset mix, family situation, and country of origin.

The Reporting Piece

If you owe wealth tax, you file it on a dedicated wealth tax return with its own annual deadline (the DIAN calendar publishes the schedule). This is why many expats miss it and get hit with fines or back-tax years later - if you pay a local accountant to file an annual income tax return, this will not generally include the wealth tax return, and many local accountants won’t even mention it.

Even if you're below the threshold, being close to it means annual monitoring and keeping a paper-trail justifying how you were assessed as under it each year. A good year in the stock market or a currency move, or just unlucky valuation timing on a highly speculative asset, can push you over.