Selling Your Colombian Property? Five Numbers That Decide How Much You Take Home

Buying property in Colombia gets most of the attention. Selling gets far less, which is strange, because selling is where foreigners actually find out whether they did things properly the first time. The sale price is only the start. Taxes, withholding, how the deed is written and whether you can legally send the money out of the country all shape what lands in your bank account at home.

Most of it comes down to five numbers. Learn these before you list, and before you agree on a price, because the decisions that matter most in a sale are usually made well before signing day.

2: the number of years that changes your tax rate

How long you owned the property decides which tax applies to your profit. Hold it for two years or more, and the gain is taxed as a capital gain, known in Colombia as ganancia ocasional. Sell sooner, and the profit is treated as ordinary income, taxed at progressive rates that can climb far higher.

If you are close to the two-year mark, a few weeks’ patience can be worth a great deal. Check the date on your deed, not the date you moved in or paid the deposit.

15%: the capital gains rate

For property held two years or more, the capital gains rate is 15%, and it applies to residents and non-residents alike. According to Siempre al Día’s 2026 guide to capital gains on property, the gain is the sale price minus your tax cost, which starts from what you paid, adjusted under annual tax rules, plus documented improvements and the notary and registration costs of your purchase.

Two practical points follow. First, keep every receipt for renovations and every closing document from when you bought, because they reduce your taxable gain. Second, do not count on the exemption for selling your family home. That benefit is reserved for Colombian tax residents who meet specific conditions, so most foreigners who live abroad cannot use it.

Non-residents still have to file. That generally means updating your tax registration, the RUT, with a foreign address, appointing a representative in Colombia and filing a return for the year of the sale. If your home country has a tax treaty with Colombia, you may be able to credit the Colombian tax against what you owe at home.

1%: what the notary keeps on signing day

When an individual sells property, the notary withholds 1% of the sale price as an advance on income tax, before the deed is signed. It is a percentage of the price, not of your profit, so it applies even if you sold at a loss. The amount is credited against your final tax bill, and if it turns out to be more than you owe, the difference can be recovered through your return.

Build this into your figures early. Sellers who forget it are often surprised at signing when the notary asks for payment before the deed can go ahead.

4: the multiplier for under-declaring the price

Some buyers and sellers are tempted to record a lower price in the deed and settle the rest in cash. Colombian tax law is built to punish exactly that. The price in the deed cannot be lower than the cadastral value, and the tax authority can reject a declared price that departs by more than 15% from market prices for similar properties. Both parties must also swear in the deed that the stated price is the real one, as set out in Article 90 of the Tax Statute.

Where those sworn statements are missing, taxes and fees are calculated on four times the value in the deed. Even where they are present, a falsely low price exposes the seller to reassessment, penalties and interest, and the authority’s review period runs long after the sale. It is never worth it.

0: the deadline for updating your investment registration, which no longer exists

If you brought the purchase money into Colombia through the exchange market and registered it as a foreign investment with the Banco de la República, that registration is what lets you send the sale proceeds back out through official channels. The sale is reported as the cancellation of your investment, through an authorized bank or exchange intermediary.

Until recently, changes and cancellations had to be registered within six months, and missing the deadline could mean steep exchange-control fines. As the INCP reported, Decree 1044 of August 2026 removed that time limit, so registrations can now be made at any time as long as the investment really took place. That is welcome flexibility, but it does not fix a purchase that was never registered in the first place. If your money originally arrived as a personal transfer or a family remittance, deal with that before you sell, not after.

Putting the numbers together

A sensible sale starts with a few checks. Confirm how long you have held the property. Gather your purchase documents and improvement receipts to work out your real tax cost. Pull the record of your foreign investment registration. Get your clearance certificates for property tax and building fees ready, since the notary will ask for them. Then agree on a price that is both honest and close to market, and plan for the 1% withholding and the tax filing that follow.

Do that, and selling in Colombia is straightforward. Skip it, and the five numbers above have a way of finding you anyway.

This article is general information and not tax, legal or financial advice. Tax rules change and depend on individual circumstances, so confirm the position for your own sale with a qualified professional.

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