Colombian government imposes a SEP / DST on non-residents from 1 January 2024.
Non-resident providers of certain digital services will become liable (Decree No. 2039/2023) to 3% income tax from 1 January 2024. The original proposal was for a 5% tax on gross income from digital services.
The SEP (Significant Economic Presence) / DST (Digital Services Tax) would be charged via 5% corporate income tax charge or via 10% Withholding Tax by customer, payment processor or other. It comes as part of a two-part significant economic presence income tax test (see below) and may be applied on e-commerce goods, too.
The new tax comes as OECD Pillar 1 discussions falter and more countries look to enforce DST’s instead.
See our DST country implementations tracker
Colombia has introduced VAT on foreign digital services, but enforcement is limited.
The SEP / DST would be charged on turnover from the following services:
- Digital advertising
- Streaming or download media and content
- Sale of user data
- Hosting
- Online e-learning and training
- Other services provided via digital or electronic
- Intermediation platforms
- Digital subscriptions
Significant economic presence (SEP) Nexus tests
Colombia’s significant economic presence for digital services and e-commerce sales of goods. This is based on two Nexus tests:
- Over 300,000 local customers; and
- Turnover above US$ 264,000.
Americas Digital Services Taxes (DST)
| Country | Status | Rate | Annual sales threshold | Scope | |
| In-country income | Global income | ||||
| Argentina | Dec 2020 | 5%, 10%, 15% | Online gambling | ||
| Brazil - 1 | Proposed | 1-5% | BRL 100m | BRL 3bn | Advertising; user data; interfaces; |
| Brazil - 2 | Proposed | 3% on COFINS | BRL 78m | $240m | Advertising; platform services for selling goods and services |
| Brazil - 3 | Proposed | 3% | BRL 4.5bn | Advertising; platform interaction services; data | |
| Brazil - 4 | Proposed | 3% - 10% | BRL 100m | Media; apps; gaming; gambling (10%); software | |
| Brazil - 5 | Proposed | 3% | Advertising; user data; payment platforms; media | ||
| Canada | Jan 2024 | 3% | CAD 20m | €750m | Advertising, online marketplaces, social media and the sale/licensing of user data. |
| Colombia | 2023 | 3% | US$ 264k | - | Advertising; streaming or download media; user data; e-learning - Significant Economic Presence test |
| Costa Rica | Nov 2019 | Tourist accommodation rentals | |||
| Paraguay | Jan 2021 | 4.5% | Non-resident: media; gaming; data processing; advertising; gambling; software | ||
| Uruguay | Jan 2018 | 12% | Digital services Non-residents | ||
