Rental Income Tax in Colombia for Foreign Owners: The 2026 Rules

If you own a Medellín apartment and rent it out while living abroad, Colombia treats you as a non-resident earning Colombian-source income. The headline rate is 35% — considerably higher than most foreign owners expect, and considerably higher than the resident rate on the same income.

The good news is that the picture changes materially once you understand residency, deductions and the difference between long-term and short-term letting.

Resident or non-resident: the 183-day test

Colombian tax residency turns on days. Spend more than 183 days in Colombia within any 365 consecutive days and you become a tax resident — and DIAN counts every partial day as a full day.

	Non-resident	Tax resident
Scope of taxation	Colombian-source income only	Worldwide income
Rate on rental income	35% flat	Progressive, 0–39%
Access to resident deductions	Largely no	Yes

That last row is the sting in the tail for anyone drifting toward residency. Crossing 183 days brings your worldwide income into the Colombian net, not just the rent from your apartment. If you are hovering near the line, count carefully and take advice before you cross it — this catches long-stay digital nomad visa holders regularly in their second year.

When you must file

Non-residents must file a Colombian return where Colombian-source income was not fully covered by final withholding at source, or where any DIAN threshold is exceeded. The thresholds are set in UVT, so the peso figure moves each year:

• Gross annual income above 1,400 UVT
• Total net worth above 4,500 UVT
• Bank deposits, credit card spending, or total purchases each above 1,400 UVT

With the 2026 UVT at COP 52,374, 1,400 UVT is roughly COP 73.3 million and 4,500 UVT roughly COP 235.7 million. Note the net-worth test: a single Medellín apartment worth more than about COP 236 million will trip the asset threshold on its own, regardless of how much rent it produces. Most foreign owners of a decent apartment are filers whether they realised it or not.

What you can deduct

Rental income is taxed on the net figure, and the deductions that matter for an apartment are the ordinary running costs:

• Administración — building fees, which on an amenity-heavy building are substantial
• Predial — municipal property tax
• Property management and letting fees
• Repairs and maintenance, properly invoiced
• Insurance
• Depreciation on the building element, where applicable

Everything here depends on documentation. Colombia runs on electronic invoicing, and an expense without a valid factura electrónica is, for practical purposes, not an expense. Instruct whoever manages the property to collect and file them from day one — the same discipline that protects your cost basis when you eventually sell, as covered in our guide to capital gains tax on Colombian property.

Short-term letting is a different tax animal

Renting nightly is not simply renting monthly with more turnover. Depending on how the activity is structured, short-stay accommodation can be treated as a commercial lodging service rather than a passive lease, which can bring IVA into scope and typically brings ICA, the municipal industry and commerce tax, alongside it.

Layered on top is the regulatory question. Medellín’s city government has been actively pursuing rules for daily rentals, and buildings themselves increasingly restrict short lets in their reglamento — a private restriction that binds you regardless of what the city decides. Read our guides to Airbnb regulations in Medellín and Airbnb versus long-term rentals before assuming a nightly-rate model.

The practical point: model short-let returns after IVA, ICA, management fees and realistic vacancy. Gross nightly rate multiplied by an optimistic occupancy figure is not a yield.

Setting it up properly

1. Get a RUT. You cannot file, reclaim withholding or deal with DIAN without a Colombian tax ID.
2. Confirm your Banco de la República registration. It governs whether rental profits and eventual sale proceeds can be repatriated. See selling as a foreigner.
3. Count your days. The 183-day line changes everything.
4. Insist on electronic invoices for every peso of expenditure.
5. Engage a Colombian accountant. At a 35% headline rate on a mid-size apartment, professional fees pay for themselves in the first return.

Also relevant: Colombian property taxes, notary fees and legal costs, LLC versus personal name, and rental yields by neighbourhood.

If you own a Medellín property and are managing it from abroad, our property management service handles tenants, invoicing and the paperwork that keeps your deductions defensible. Get in touch to talk it through.

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General information, not tax advice. Rates, UVT values and thresholds change annually and the treatment of short-term letting depends on how the activity is structured. Engage a licensed Colombian tax adviser.