In order to contribute to the simplification of procedures for the creation of companies and others, the Bogota Chamber of Commerce and the National Tax and Customs Directorate (DIAN) announced that the completion of the PRERUT form will be eliminated.

Previously, individuals had to make a pre-registration before the DIAN (called PRERUT) and submit it to the Chamber of Commerce, as an indispensable part of the process of creating a commercial registration. Now, with this decision, the procedure for the creation of a company, the opening of branches of foreign companies and the registration of non-profit legal entities is further simplified.

The elimination of this procedure is a result of the efforts of both entities to articulate and coordinate their technological information and data systems. Thus, from now on, it will only be necessary to fill out the RUES form and process directly at the Bogota Chamber of Commerce (through in-person and virtual channels) the registration and inscription that accredits them as formalized entrepreneurs and/or persons with full legal capacity to conduct business. Likewise, in this same procedure, the Tax Identification Number assigned by the DIAN -NIT- will be obtained automatically and immediately, which will allow businessmen and entrepreneurs to start developing their economic activities immediately, with the peace of mind that they are already legally recognized taxpayers before the DIAN.

Nicolas Uribe Rueda, president of the Bogota Chamber of Commerce stated that "With this initiative, the Bogota Chamber of Commerce and the DIAN are making progress in simplifying the process of formalization and creation of companies. This decision will also reduce transaction costs (time and money) to access the different legal tools that allow businesses to be started in a safe, legal and formal way".

For his part, Lisandro Junco Riveira, Director General of the DIAN said that "the elimination of the preRUT in the process of assigning the NIT through the chambers of commerce is an important milestone in the strategy of simplification and streamlining of procedures of the entity, reducing the time and associated costs, thus facilitating voluntary compliance with the obligations with the Colombian state". The elimination of the prerut is the materialization of the joint effort made by these entities, which have been strategic allies in the process of formalization of entrepreneurs and had previously introduced improvements in the process of creating companies such as the integration of their systems for the assignment of the NIT, the reduction of the time for the creation of commercial companies, the elimination of the requirement of a bank account for the request of invoicing numbering, among others.

The elimination of this procedure covers companies and organizations domiciled in Bogotá or in the 59 municipalities of the Cundinamarca region. However, it is expected that the Chambers of Commerce system will quickly join this initiative in order to simplify this procedure throughout the country.