The District Finance Secretariat (SDH) issued Resolution DDI-187763 on August 27, 2025, and Resolution DDI-015997 on August 25, 2025, which modifies Resolution DDI-010349 of June 13, 2025, to announce the extension of the deadline for submitting district exogenous information for the 2024 tax period and also to announce that, as of September 1, 2025, the new Online Digital Information Platform (PIDO) is available, which is a new secure and modern system for taxpayers to submit the aforementioned district exogenous information.

The submission dates according to the last digit of the NIT or identification document are:

• The District Secretariat of Finance (SDH) issued a statement on August 14, 2025, announcing that the voluntary contribution certificate is now available for download. This certificate contains information corresponding to the additional 10% taxpayers paid in their returns as a voluntary contribution. This certificate grants tax benefits in their income tax return.

• The SDH issued a statement on September 3, 2025, informing the public that it will begin contacting taxpayers who are delinquent in the payment of property tax and vehicle tax for the year 2025. Messages will be sent via SMS, WhatsApp, email, physical letters, and telephone calls.

Ministry of Finance and Public Credit

• The Ministry of Finance and Public Credit, in September 2025, presented the Financing Bill – Tax Reform (a bill currently undergoing legislative process) to Congress.

The main changes proposed within the bill are:

• Increases in the income tax rate for individuals.

• Self-assessment surcharge for financial institutions.

• Extension of the time period for sold assets to be considered occasional gain.

• Reduction of caps for wealth tax.

• Elimination of the bimonthly VAT payment period.

• Increase in tax on dividends.

• Creation of a 15% tax on omitted assets or non-existent liabilities as of January 1, 2026.

• Definition of VAT taxable bases for petroleum derivatives.

• Special tax on the extraction of hydrocarbons and coal.

Superintendency of Finance of Colombia (SFC)

• The Superintendency of Finance of Colombia (SFC) reports that the default interest rate for tax purposes, effective between September 1 and September 30, is 23.01% effective annual rate, which is equivalent to 25.01% minus two points.

"The Commercial Agency is a contract of the Commercial Code (articles 1317 to 1331) in which a merchant “assumes independently and in a stable manner the mandate to promote or exploit businesses in a determined line and within a pre-established zone in the national territory, as a representative or agent of a national or foreign businessperson or as a manufacturer or distributor of one or several products of the same.”

The special regulation of this contract provides for the commercial severance pay (cesantía comercial) as the “twelfth part of the average commission, royalty, or profit received in the last three years, for each year the contract was in force, or the average of all amounts received, if the contract duration was shorter,” payable upon termination of the legal relationship, the indemnification for termination “without proven just cause,” and exclusivity, all in favor of the agent.

These protectionist provisions led the government of the United States of America, within the scope of negotiations for the Trade Promotion Agreement or Free Trade Agreement between Colombia and that country, to commit Colombia to modify or repeal the special regulation of the agency contract, as stated in Annex 11-E. This commitment is still pending fulfillment to date.

In the US legal system, the commercial agency is understood as an agreement for the distribution of commercial goods for another party. Since then, multiple lawsuits have existed before the Colombian justice system in which it is discussed whether a distribution agreement was or was not a commercial agency.

In accordance with the jurisprudence of the Supreme Court of Justice (SC3645-2019, SC350-2023, and SC2556-2024), it has been established that the commercial agency agreement has the following essential elements: “i) A mandate to promote and exploit businesses; ii) The independence and stability of the agent; iii) Remuneration in favor of the latter; and iv) The agent’s action on behalf of a third party (por cuenta ajena).” Each requirement, in turn, has been developed in the following way:

The “mandate to promote and exploit businesses” involves actions aimed at establishing a brand, acquiring a clientele, and expanding sales opportunities for the goods or services provided by the represented party (agenciado). The “independence” refers to the existence of an organization or business distinct from that of the agenciado that carries out the aforementioned mandate, but subject to the instructions, guidelines, or directives it receives on matters such as corporate identity, requirements for product transport and storage, customer service policies, among other assumptions. On the other hand, “stability” demands the extension of the contractual link over time, both so that the agent can adequately fulfill their mission and so that they can recover the investment involved in designing an independent organization. The “remuneration in favor of the agent” must be accrued from the activities the agent carries out on account and in the name of the agenciado, so the commission, success fee, or discount agreed upon should represent a percentage of the profits or royalties of the business. The “action on behalf of a third party (por cuenta ajena)” fundamentally consists of the main profits, risks, and costs of the operation falling on the agenciado, which explains why the clientele belongs to them once the agency relationship is terminated.

The commercial agency is thus differentiated from a distribution agreement because the latter is executed in the search for the distributor’s own benefit, such as buying for resale, since even the acts of promotion and advertising are done in their own name and interest, as opposed to being on behalf of a third party, as occurs with the agent. This difference also determines who is the person that assumes the contingencies of a business (loss or deterioration of merchandise, non-payment for it, insolvency or illiquidity of clients, or the instability of market prices).

However, the common points between the commercial agency and distribution lie in that both involve market penetration, client acquisition, and the commercialization of goods or services in a predefined zone.

Likewise, the rule “not every distributor is a commercial agent” is due to the differences recognized by the jurisprudence of the Supreme Court of Justice, citing legal doctrine (Marzorati, Sistemas de Distribución Comercial 2011, p. 81-83; Ghersi, Contratos Civiles y Comerciales 1994, p. 95)."