Income tax return for individuals
Everything you need to know about the 2025 tax-year return, filed in 2026: who must file, what documents to gather, how to file, and your filing deadline based on your ID number.
Look up your deadline
Walk through the process step by step
We've organized the DIAN's official information into five blocks. Each one expands so you can check only what you need.
Are you required to file?
You must file an income tax return for the 2025 tax year if you meet at least one of the following conditions. Exceeding a single threshold is enough.
Having been liable for value-added tax (VAT) as of December 31, 2025.
That your gross net worth, as of December 31, 2025, was greater than: $224.096.000
That your gross income in 2025 was equal to or greater than: $69.719.000
That your credit card spending in 2025 exceeded: $69.719.000
That the total value of your purchases and spending in 2025 exceeded: $69.719.000
That your accumulated bank deposits, savings, or financial investments in 2025 exceeded: $69.719.000
Filing isn't always the same as paying. Many people exceed a threshold and are required to file, but end up with a credit balance or a zero return. Filing on time avoids penalties even when there's no tax due.
(DIAN Resolution 000238)
Prepare for your tax return
Before filling out the form, you need your RUT, your user account, and your electronic signature in order. These procedures are free and done online.
Should you register?
Register in the Single Tax Registry (RUT) if you:
- Are a natural person over 18 years old.
- Don't need a proxy or legal representative.
- Don't need to complete any procedure with the Chamber of Commerce.
- Meet any of the conditions for filing an income tax return.
- Are not yet registered.
Registration must be completed before the deadline for filing your return. See the step-by-step guide for the virtual RUT.
Should you update it?
If you're already registered and your email, address, phone number, economic activity, or tax responsibilities changed, you must update the information within the month following the change. See the step-by-step guide for updating online.
You can also schedule an in-person or video appointment through the DIAN's scheduling system. The process can be handled in any city in the country, regardless of your place of residence.
It is the taxpayer's responsibility to keep RUT information up to date.
The electronic signature is mandatory for authenticating your documents with the DIAN. The password for your user account and for your electronic signature are the same.
Activating your account for the first time
Follow these steps if you're registered in the RUT and have an active email or mobile number on file, but haven't yet activated your user account:
Go to www.dian.gov.co, navigate to "Usuario Registrado" (Registered User) and click "habilítela aquí" (activate it here). You can also do this from the "Usuario nuevo" (New User) option.
Fill in each field and click "Habilitar cuenta" (Activate account).
Read the system information and click "Crear contraseña y generar firma" (Create password and generate signature).
Choose how you want to receive the security code and click "Enviar código" (Send code).
Enter the security code you received and click "Validar" (Validate).
Read and accept the electronic signature terms, then click "Crear contraseña y generar firma" (Create password and generate signature).
You now have your password to log in as a registered user and sign documents and procedures with the DIAN.
Recovering your account if you forgot your password
Go to www.dian.gov.co and, under the registered user option, click "¿Olvidó su contraseña?" (Forgot your password?). Fill in your information, click "Continuar" (Continue), then "Actualizar contraseña y generar firma" (Update password and generate signature), request and verify the security code, and finally create your new password by accepting the electronic signature terms.
Exogenous information is the set of data that third parties (banks, employers, municipal governments, financial institutions) report to the DIAN about your economic activity. The agency makes it available to taxpayers to make filing the return easier.
How to check it
- Log in to the DIAN's transactional portal.
- Choose the A nombre propio (On my own behalf) option and log in with your username and password.
- Click Consultar información exógena / Información reportada por terceros (Check exogenous information / third-party reported information).
- Read and accept the service terms.
- Select the tax year and click Consultar (Search).
- Save the Excel file the system generates.
Key points to keep in mind
- It's not mandatory. Exogenous information isn't required to file and doesn't replace your actual financial reality: you must declare your real figures.
- The DIAN cannot correct it. If you find inconsistencies, you must contact directly the person or company that reported the data, whose details appear in the Persona que reporta (Reporting party) column.
- Corrections take time. Changes are reflected seven business days after the reporting party updates the information.
- If you just registered in the RUT, you'll be able to check your exogenous information four business days after registering and activating your account.
- Real estate: the reported value corresponds to cadastral records and property tax. If the property has multiple owners, each must include their corresponding share.
- It's confidential. You cannot request another person's exogenous information unless you act as a duly documented legal representative registered in the titleholder's RUT.
- AG
- Año Gravable (Tax Year).
- Contribuyentes (Taxpayers)
- Those directly responsible for paying the tax — that is, the persons for whom the taxable event giving rise to the tax obligation occurs.
- DV
- Dígito de Verificación (Verification Digit).
- EAR
- Entidad Autorizada para Recaudar (Authorized Collection Entity).
- Firma electrónica (Electronic signature)
- The set of data that allows a document to be signed electronically and unambiguously identifies the signer within the DIAN's digital services.
- Ganancias ocasionales (Occasional gains)
- Income or profit obtained from the occasional sale of an asset that isn't part of the ordinary course of business, or from an exceptional economic event such as winning the lottery or a raffle. Governed by articles 299 to 317 of the Tax Code.
- NIT
- Número de Identificación Tributaria (Tax ID Number): the code that identifies those registered in the RUT.
- Residencia fiscal (Tax residency)
- Staying in the country, continuously or not, for more than 183 calendar days during any 365-day consecutive period. The conditions of article 10 of the Tax Code must also be reviewed.
- RUT
- Registro Único Tributario (Single Tax Registry): the single mechanism for identifying, locating, and classifying persons subject to obligations administered by the DIAN.
- Sistema de renta cedular (Schedular income system)
- A mechanism that groups income by its source, applying a specific rate and treatment to each schedule ("cédula"), so that the treatment of one type of income doesn't affect the others.
- Sucesión ilíquida (Unliquidated estate)
- The income and assets a person leaves behind at death. Once assigned to the heirs, the estate is considered liquidated.
Supporting documents
You must gather the documents that support your economic and financial activity during 2025, and keep them in your personal files in case the DIAN requests them.
Essential document: an updated Single Tax Registry (RUT). Without it you cannot file your return.
These are the documents that prove ownership of assets, rights, and investments, as well as your debts, certified as of December 31, 2025:
- Certificates or statements of savings and checking account balances issued by financial institutions.
- Investment certificates issued by the institution where they were set up (CDs, bonds, trust rights, mandatory investments, among others).
- Property tax return or statement for your real estate for the 2025 tax year.
- Deeds of acquisition of real estate or public registry certificates.
- Purchase invoice or document showing the acquisition value of vehicles.
- List of furniture, fixtures, machinery, and equipment at acquisition value, plus additions and improvements.
- Technical appraisal certificate for intangible assets such as goodwill, copyrights, and industrial, literary, artistic, or scientific property.
- Bills of exchange, promissory notes, mortgages, and other documents supporting accounts receivable and obligations or debts.
These prove the income received during 2025, in accordance with articles 27 and 28 of the Tax Code. They depend on your economic activity:
- Income and withholding certificate for wage payments and employment income in general.
- Calculation of the average salary for the six months prior to the payment of severance pay and interest on it.
- Basic salary certificate for officers and non-commissioned officers of the Military Forces or National Police.
- Certificates of compensation for workplace accidents, illness, maternity, burial expenses, death insurance, and death compensation for members of the public security forces.
- Certificates of pension-substitute compensation or refunds of pension savings balances.
- Certificates of fees, commissions, and services.
- Certificates of financial returns paid during the year.
- Certificate of dividends and equity distributions declared payable during the year.
- Certificates of life insurance indemnity payments.
- Certificates of profits distributed by liquidated companies.
- Certificates of Rural Capitalization Incentive (ICR) or Agro Ingreso Seguro (AIS).
- Certificates of meal payments made by your employer.
- Certificates supporting exemptions for foreigners under international treaties.
You must have supporting documentation for payments made in 2025 that have a causal, necessary, and proportional relationship to your income-generating activity, or that grant tax benefits:
- Certificate of interest payments on home-purchase loans.
- Certificates of health-related payments.
- Certificates for investments in correctional facilities, audiovisual works, bookstores, and film projects.
- Certificates of donations to the Nation, departments, municipalities, districts, and indigenous territories.
- List of expense invoices with the total value.
- List of payments to employees for wages, bonuses, vacation, and severance pay.
- Certificates of contributions to family compensation funds, ICBF, EPS, ARL, and pension funds.
- Payments of industry and commerce tax, signage tax, and property tax.
- Certificates of donations and investments made during the year.
- Certification supporting the dependent deduction, when applicable.
Yes. Those who receive income other than salary (capital income or non-labor income) can deduct costs and expenses that meet the requirements of tax regulations, under numeral 4 of article 336 of the Tax Code.
The same applies to costs and expenses associated with employment income from fees or compensation for personal services from independent professional activity.
You must choose. Taxpayers to whom paragraph 5 of article 206 of the Tax Code applies must choose between deducting eligible costs and expenses or taking the exempt income under numeral 10 of the same article (25% of wage payments, capped at 790 UVT per year). Both cannot be applied.
How to file and pay
The return is filed online with your electronic signature. Below are the applicable forms, the available payment methods, and the procedure for requesting credit balances.
| Form | Who does it apply to? |
|---|---|
| Form 210 | Individuals who are tax residents in Colombia, and unliquidated estates whose decedent was a Colombian tax resident at the time of death. |
| Form 110 | Individuals who are tax residents abroad, and unliquidated estates whose decedent was a tax resident abroad at the time of death. |
Since September 18, 2023, individuals and unliquidated estates must file their return online using their electronic signature.
Electronic payment
Once you've filed your return, generate the official national tax payment receipt (form 490). Then click the payment button to start the process that takes you to your bank's web service.
In-person payment
Fill out and print two copies of form 490. Go to the bank and pay in cash, by debit or credit card, cashier's check, a check drawn on the same city, or via electronic transfer or account deposit. You can also pay at Reval, Conred, and Puntored correspondent locations.
The bank teller must give you back a copy of the payment receipt duly stamped. See the Payment Methods Guide (PDF).
Authorized Collection Entities (EAR)
| Bank | Branches | PSE | Credit card | Correspondent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Agrario | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| AV Villas | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Bancolombia | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| BBVA | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| BCSC | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Bogotá | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Citibank | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
| Colpatria | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| Davivienda | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Itaú | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| Occidente | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Popular | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Sudameris | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
Who can request it?
Under article 850 of the Tax Code, taxpayers or parties who report credit balances on their tax returns may request a refund. Filing is done through the online refund service.
What is the deadline to request it?
No later than two years after the filing deadline expires, provided the balance hasn't been used previously. For returns with an audit benefit, the term under article 689-1 of the Tax Code applies.
How long does the DIAN take to refund?
| Method | Timeframe |
|---|---|
| Standard refund | 50 days following filing |
| With a guarantee in favor of the Nation | 20 days following filing |
| Automatic refund | 15 days following filing |
Main requirements
- A formalized and updated RUT, without suspension or cancellation during the process. This also applies to legal representatives and proxies.
- Bank account ownership certification for an active account supervised by the Financial Superintendency, issued no more than one month prior.
- A list of withholdings or self-withholdings that generated the credit balance (form 1220), including those from the years the balance carries forward from.
- Copy of the power of attorney when acting through a proxy.
- Those applying for the automatic refund must attach a list of costs and deductions supported by electronic invoicing.
How is the refund paid?
Through tax refund bonds (TIDIS) when the balance exceeds 1,000 UVT; otherwise, by deposit to a checking or savings account. TIDIS are valid for one year from the date they're credited.
If your request is deemed inadmissible or rejected
If deemed inadmissible, you must file a new request within the following month, correcting the grounds cited. If rejected, you can file a reconsideration appeal within the two months following notification.
The rate is applied progressively to the taxable base expressed in UVT:
| From (UVT) | To (UVT) | Marginal rate | Tax |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | 1.090 | 0% | 0 |
| > 1.090 | 1.700 | 19% | (Base in UVT − 1.090) × 19% |
| > 1.700 | 4.100 | 28% | (Base − 1.700) × 28% + 116 UVT |
| > 4.100 | 8.670 | 33% | (Base − 4.100) × 33% + 788 UVT |
| > 8.670 | 18.970 | 35% | (Base − 8.670) × 35% + 2.296 UVT |
| > 18.970 | 31.000 | 37% | (Base − 18.970) × 37% + 5.901 UVT |
| > 31.000 | And above | 39% | (Base − 31.000) × 39% + 10.352 UVT |
What's new for the 2025 tax year
Regulatory changes that may affect your return, and what to do if you missed the deadline.
1. Recognition of informal/foster family ("familia de crianza") as economic dependents
Law 2388 of 2024 comprehensively regulated the concept of the "familia de crianza" (informal/foster family), legally recognizing children, parents, grandparents, and other relatives when there is cohabitation, affection, solidarity, and mutual support for a period of at least five years. Those who meet the requirements can be considered economic dependents for the deduction under article 387 of the Tax Code.
2. Dependents with physical or psychological limitations
Age requirements were relaxed: children, siblings, or other economically dependent persons can be recognized as dependents from age 18 onward, closing the regulatory gap that existed for the 18-to-23 age range.
3. Extended age for dependents pursuing higher education
Children can retain dependent status up to age 25, provided they are enrolled in state-recognized higher education programs and are economically dependent on the taxpayer.
4. Benefits for electric and hybrid vehicles
Those who purchase hybrid or electric vehicles can claim a special deduction of up to 50% of the vehicle's value when calculating income tax. See DIAN Ruling 13853 of 2025.
5. Tax credit for food donations
The so-called "Zero Hunger Law" created a tax credit applicable to income tax for those who donate food fit for human consumption and hygiene products to entities authorized to distribute them to vulnerable populations. See article 2 of Law 2380 of 2024.
You can still do it. Follow these steps:
Make sure you're registered in the RUT and that your information is up to date.
Activate your user account and generate your electronic signature on the DIAN portal.
Fill out and file your return.
Pay online or at authorized banks, including the penalty and late-payment interest.
Penalties for late filing
| Situation | Penalty |
|---|---|
| With tax due | 5% of the tax due for each month or fraction of a month of delay, up to an amount equal to the tax due. |
| With no tax due | 0.5% of gross income. |
| With no income for the period | 1% of net worth from the immediately preceding year. |
| Minimum penalty 2026 | $524.000 |
Even if your return is a zero return, if you're late by even one day you'll have to pay at least the minimum penalty of $524.000. If you also owe tax, late-payment interest is added, calculated for each day of delay.
For unliquidated estates, the executor or heirs must update the RUT of the deceased and continue filing the return until the estate is settled.
Legal basis
- Book One of the Tax Code.
- Articles 634 and 635 of the Tax Code (late-payment interest).
- Article 639 of the Tax Code (minimum penalty).
- Article 641 of the Tax Code (late filing).
- Decree 2229 of 2023.
- Resolution 000227 of September 23, 2025.
Need help with your return?
Our team of tax experts supports you through the entire process. Contact us through whichever channel you prefer.
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