Am I a tax resident of Colombia?
Two things trip people up. Colombia's 183-day rule is not the calendar year — it's more than 183 days (so 184+) in any rolling 365-day window, and your entry and exit days count. And if you're a Colombian national, you can be resident on income, assets or family even with barely any days here. Check your likely status for 2026.
Check your residency
Which tests apply
Worked examples
US retiree wintering in Cartagena, 150 days
Your likely status (Colombia): Likely not resident
As a foreign national under 184 days, you likely are not a Colombian tax resident.
✓ For non-Colombian nationals, only the day count decides — and you're at 183 or fewer in your 365-day window. Watch the rolling window if you travel back and forth.
Which tests apply
- More than 183 days in any 365-day window: 150 days — 183 or fewer, not by days
- National-specific criteria: N/A — foreign nationals face only the day-count test
Remote developer in Medellín, 184 days exactly
Your likely status (Colombia): Likely resident
With 184 days in a rolling 365-day window, you likely qualify as a Colombian tax resident.
✓ Colombia counts more than 183 days (184+) in ANY 365-day window — including entry and exit days, not the calendar year. If those days span two tax years, you're resident from the second year.
Which tests apply
- More than 183 days in any 365-day window: Yes — 184 days ✓ triggers residency
Colombian in Houston, 92 days, family and income in Colombia
Your likely status (Colombia): Likely resident
As a Colombian national, you likely remain a tax resident — your family are Colombian residents, 50%+ Colombian-source income.
✓ Colombian nationals stay resident on income, assets or family even under 184 days. The domicile carve-out (50%+ income or assets in your home country) would exempt you — but on your answers it doesn't apply.
Which tests apply
- More than 183 days in any 365-day window: 92 days — 183 or fewer, not by days
- Family are Colombian residents: Yes ✓
- 50%+ Colombian-source income: Yes ✓
- 50%+ wealth managed/located in Colombia: No
- Residence in a tax haven: No
- Domicile carve-out (income/assets in home country): No
Examples are recomputed whenever the underlying rates or data change; the date above is the last recompute.
How Colombian residency is decided & data sources
Under Colombia's Estatuto Tributario Art. 10, a natural person is a tax resident when they stay in the country more than 183 days — continuously or not, including entry and exit days — during any period of 365 consecutive days (a rolling window, not the calendar year). 184 days triggers it; exactly 183 does not. If that 183-plus period falls across two tax years, you're a resident from the second year.
For Colombian nationals, residency also attaches (numeral 3) if any of these hold: your spouse/partner or dependent minor children are Colombian tax residents; 50%+ of your income is Colombian-source; 50%+ of your assets are managed in Colombia; 50%+ of your assets are located in Colombia; you were asked by the DIAN and can't prove residence abroad; or you have residence in a tax haven. Carve-out (Ley 1739/2014): a national who trips those is not resident if 50%+ of their income is sourced in — or 50%+ of their assets are located in — the country where they're domiciled. Foreign nationals face only the day-count test. Residents are taxed on worldwide income and wealth (Art. 9); non-residents only on Colombian-source income.
Sources: DIAN — residencia fiscal en Colombia · Ley 1607/2012 (ET Art. 10) · Estatuto Tributario Art. 10
Frequently asked questions
Does the day count reset every January?
No — that's the trap. Colombia uses any 365-consecutive-day window, so days from late one year plus early the next can add up to residency. And both your entry and exit days count toward the total.
Is it 183 or 184 days?
The law says "more than 183," so it takes 184 days to become resident. Exactly 183 days keeps you non-resident — the boundary matters.
I'm a Colombian living abroad — am I still resident?
Possibly. If your income, assets, or immediate family are still mainly in Colombia, you can remain a Colombian tax resident — unless most of your income or assets are in the country where you now live (the domicile carve-out). This checker walks you through it.
What does residency mean for my taxes?
Colombian tax residents declare and are taxed on their worldwide income and wealth; non-residents only on Colombian-source income. That's why the line matters.