Assets held abroad: due dates for annual filings

On April 9, the deadlines for large taxpayers and other legal entities responsible for income tax and complementary taxes to file the annual declaration of assets held abroad as of January 1 of that year began.

The annual declaration of assets held abroad, created through articles 42 and 43 of Law 1739 of 2014, and through which article 607 was added to the Tax Statute -ET-, is an informative declaration, which must be filed by the national legal entities taxpayers of income tax and complementary taxes, both of the ordinary regime and of the special regime; Likewise, it must be filed by individuals and resident unliquidated successions, provided that as of January 1 of each year they have assets abroad, which must be declared in form 160. For the taxable year 2019, the deadlines were stipulated in Decree 2442 of 2018.

To this extent, below, we will analyze the key points required at the time of filing such declaration.

Obliged to file the statement of assets abroad

Individuals and legal entities qualified as of December 31, 2018 as large taxpayers by Resolution 012635 of 2018, as well as other tax resident individuals and national companies, both of the ordinary and special regime, taxpayers of income tax, that have assets abroad as of January 1, 2019, are obliged to file the declaration of assets abroad.

It is necessary to highlight that taxpayers who decide to be taxed under the new simple regime (created by article 66 of Law 1943 of 2018) will not be obliged to file the declaration of assets abroad, since they will not have to report their tax assets obtained at the end of the year.

Those obliged to file this declaration must fill out form 160 (prescribed by Resolution 000004 of January 15, 2019) through the electronic computer services of the Dian, using the electronic signature tool. In this form, all assets such as accounts receivable, temporary investments, bank accounts, loan advances and other concepts considered assets must be declared.

Content of the declaration of assets abroad

Pursuant to Article 607 of the ET, the annual declaration of assets abroad must be made up of the following:

–Form160 designed by the Dian, duly completed.

–Theinformation necessary for the identification of the taxpayer.

– Discrimination of the net worth value, the jurisdiction in which they are located,thenature (fixed or movable asset), the type and identification (code) of all assets owned as of January 1 of each year, whose net worth value exceeds 3,580 UVT ($122,687,000 for the taxable year 2019). It should be noted that the assets owned as of January 1 of each year that do not comply with such limit must be declared in an aggregate manner for their net worth value, according to the jurisdiction in which they are located.

–Thesignature of the person who complies with the formal duty to declare.

“if the total value of the assets that the taxpayer owns abroad exceeds 3,580 UVT ($122,687,000 for the taxable year 2019), the taxpayer shall report them in a discriminate manner.”

In that order of ideas, if the total value of the assets that the taxpayer owns abroad exceeds 3,580 UVT ($122,687,000 for the taxable year 2019), the taxpayer must report them in a discriminate manner, informing the country where they are registered, their nature, type and identification of the asset and their net worth value. Otherwise, it must declare them in an aggregate manner indicating the jurisdiction, nature and net worth value thereof.

Let us remember that the declaration of assets abroad is of a purely informative nature, and therefore there is no value to be paid by the declarant.

Deadlines

For 2019, the deadlines to file the declaration of assets abroad expire according to the type of declarant (large taxpayer, or legal or natural person), according to the last or the last two digits of the NIT registered in the RUT, without taking into account the verification digit.

Large taxpayers

Legal entities

“In the case of natural persons, such declaration must be filed between August 6 and October 17, 2019, according to the last two digits of the NIT that appears in the RUT.”

For the case of natural persons, such declaration must be filed between August 6 and October 17, 2019, attending to the last two digits of the NIT that appears in the RUT, without taking into account the verification digit.

In the case of individuals, such return must be filed between August 6 and October 17, 2019, according to the last two digits of the NIT shown in the RUT, without taking into account the verification digit.

Applicable penalties

Taxpayers who, being obliged to file the declaration of assets abroad, fail to comply with such responsibility, will be subject to penalties for failure to file or for untimeliness, as the case may be.

Penalty for failure to file

Pursuant to the Tax Law, taxpayers obliged to file a tax return, who fail to comply with such obligation, shall be subject to a special penalty for not filing, applicable exclusively to the declaration of assets abroad, which consists of the greater value between:

– 5%ofthe gross assets recorded in the last income tax return filed by the taxpayer.

– 5%ofthe gross equity determined by the Dian for the period to which the non-filed return corresponds.

Penalty for untimeliness

If the declaration of assets abroad is filed after the expiration of the deadline to file, the taxpayer would be subject to the penalty for untimeliness contemplated in paragraph 1 of Article 641 of the ET, which is equivalent to 1.5% of the value of the assets held abroad (for each month or fraction of a month) if the declaration is filed before the previous summons to file, or 3% if it is filed after such summons. However, the penalty may not exceed 25% of the assets held abroad.

It should be specified that this return does not result in balances payable or in favor, inasmuch as in this return no tax payable is liquidated. Therefore, the penalty for correction indicated in article 644 of the ET is not applicable to this return, allowing these taxpayers to make voluntary corrections to their informative returns of assets abroad, either to increase or decrease the value of their assets, for which they must make them within the two years following the expiration of the term to file the return.

Source: Actualize