New Net Wealth Tax for Legal Entities: Scope, Threshold, and Implications of Decree 0173 of 2026

In the context of the fourth Economic Emergency declared by the National Government, a Net Wealth Tax applicable to legal entities and de facto partnerships (sociedades de hecho) has been enacted.

On February 24, 2026, the National Government issued Decree 0173 of 2026 pursuant to the Economic, Social, and Ecological Emergency declared under Decree 0150 of 2026. The decree establishes an exceptional and temporary Net Wealth Tax for legal entities under the following framework:

• Taxpayers. The tax applies to legal entities and de facto partnerships (sociedades de hecho) that are income tax filers and taxpayers (impuesto sobre la renta y complementarios). The following are excluded: entities in the healthcare sector, family compensation funds (cajas de compensación familiar), entities under state intervention, and public utilities companies operating in municipalities affected by the emergency.
• Tax Rate. A general rate of 0.5 percent applies. A special rate of 1.6 percent applies exclusively to financial institutions, insurance and reinsurance companies, brokerage firms (comisionistas de bolsa), agricultural brokerage companies (sociedades comisionistas agropecuarias), agricultural and commodities exchanges (bolsa de bienes y productos agropecuarios, agroindustriales y otros commodities), securities market infrastructure providers (proveedores de infraestructura del mercado de valores), legal entities and de facto partnerships engaged in coal extraction within the specified categories, and crude oil extraction activities.
• Taxable Event. The tax is triggered by the possession, as of March 1, 2026, of net equity (patrimonio líquido) equal to or exceeding 200,000 Tax Value Units (UVT), equivalent to COP 10,474,800,000.

• Anti Avoidance Rule. Companies that participated in spin off transactions (escisión) between the issuance date of the decree and the accrual date of the tax must consolidate the equity of the split entities and beneficiary entities to determine whether the 200,000 UVT threshold is met.
• Tax Base. The taxable base is the net equity (patrimonio líquido) of the taxpayer as of March 1, 2026. The following exclusions apply:
  
  
  1. The net equity value of shares or equity interests held directly or indirectly in Colombian resident companies, to mitigate economic double taxation.
  2. The net book value of real estate fixed assets allocated to environmental control in water and sewerage companies.
  3. The value of the technical reserves of the Financial Institutions Guarantee Fund (Fogafín) and the Cooperative Financial Institutions Guarantee Fund (Fogacoop),
  4. The equity value of member contributions in cooperative sector entities listed in Article 19 4 of the Tax Code (Estatuto Tributario).
  5. Special rules apply to family compensation funds (cajas de compensación), employee funds (fondos de empleados), and trade associations (asociaciones gremiales).
     
     
• Filing and Payment. The tax must be filed and paid in two installments. Fifty percent is due on April 1, 2026. The remaining fifty percent is due on May 4, 2026.

• Non Compliance. Failure to file, late filing, or inaccurate reporting, including artificial accounting adjustments designed to reduce net equity, will trigger statutory penalties. Criminal liability may arise for omission of assets or inclusion of non existent liabilities.