Decreto 1419: Penalties at 15%

This relief expired on 19 November 2026. We keep the article for reference. If you have outstanding DIAN obligations, speak with our team.

Until 19 November 2026, a company in arrears with Colombia's tax authority can settle by paying the principal in full, just 15% of the penalty, and default interest at 4.5% per year instead of the ordinary rate. That is the core of Legislative Decree 1419 of 17 September 2026, and the window is narrow.

The arithmetic first

The principal is not discounted. What changes is everything built on top of it — which, on an aged liability, is usually the heavier half. Penalties drop to 15% of their assessed value, an 85% reduction, and default interest is computed at a special 4.5% annual rate rather than the rate that governs ordinary calculations.

On an obligation that has been accruing interest for several years, that is rarely a marginal saving. It is often the difference between a contingency carried from one closing to the next and an account finally cleared.

Who qualifies: the relief is nationwide

The decree arose from the state of emergency declared after the earthquake of 10 August 2026, and that origin raised a fair question in the market: is the benefit limited to affected municipalities?

DIAN settled the point in Press Release No. 122 of 19 September 2026. Three sets of measures apply across the entire country: the temporary reduction of penalties and interest, the regime for unfiled returns and corrections, and judicial conciliation. The measures for those affected by the earthquake (Chapter II of the decree) remain reserved for the emergency zones: payment facilities of up to 24 months without collateral; up to 36 months with a personal guarantee for debts of up to 6,000 UVT; a one-time rescheduling, for up to 12 months, of instalments falling due between 10 August and 31 December 2026; and the exclusion of donations received of up to 2,600 UVT per beneficiary.

In practical terms, a company whose tax domicile lies outside the affected municipalities can also access the 15% and the 4.5%.

What it covers: customs and foreign exchange included

This is the point most often missed. The relief is not confined to income tax or VAT. It reaches tax, customs and foreign exchange obligations administered by DIAN.

For a subsidiary of a foreign parent, or a branch importing specialised equipment, the consequence is immediate. Customs and FX penalties follow their own schedules and are frequently assessed on the value of the transaction rather than on unpaid tax, which is why they reach figures that surprise anyone whose experience is limited to income tax. A movement report filed late, or an import declaration with an error that amounts to a very serious infringement — these are files that can be closed now on terms that will not be available on 20 November.

Three ways in

The decree structures the benefit around the status of each obligation.

Existing arrears. For obligations in default as of 10 August 2026: 100% of the principal, 15% of the penalty, and 4.5% annual interest.

Returns never filed. A taxpayer who failed to file a return due on or before 10 August 2026 and files it by 19 November pays the late-filing penalty reduced to 15%, together with the full tax or withholding and interest at 4.5% a year.

Corrections. A taxpayer who amends a tax return filed up to 10 August 2026 in order to increase the amount payable or reduce a refundable balance or losses pays the correction penalty reduced to 15%, with no default interest; the full tax is paid by 19 November. In customs, only penalties for very serious infringements are reduced to 15%, also without interest and with full payment of the duties. Formal obligations other than filing returns — reports missed up to 10 August — follow their own rule: a 15% penalty and compliance by 19 November.

In all three cases the date is the same, and no automatic extension applies: 19 November 2026.

Two cautions worth putting on the table

The first concerns scope. Large taxpayers are expressly excluded from the procedural measures in the payment-facilities chapter. Because the penalty-reduction chapter does not mention them, it was unclear whether the exclusion reached them too. DIAN settled the point in its FAQ on Decreto 1419: the exclusion in Article 8 covers only Articles 5 to 7, so the penalty reduction is also available to large taxpayers. Since an FAQ is not a formal ruling, a large taxpayer intending to rely on the relief should still document its position before paying, not after.

The second concerns durability. Because Decree 1419 was issued under a state of exception, it is subject to automatic constitutional review by the Constitutional Court, which, at the time of writing, had not ruled on the underlying emergency declaration. Recent precedent counsels care: on 29 January 2026 the Court provisionally suspended the previous economic emergency (Decree 1390 of 2025) and in April declared it unconstitutional (Ruling C-075 of 2026): anyone taking the benefit should retain complete records of the payment made and the calculation applied.

Preparing in the weeks that remain

The useful work here is not legal argument. It is inventory. Before deciding whether to take the relief, a company needs to know precisely what it is holding.

A disciplined review usually covers the full DIAN account statement as of the cut-off date; withholding returns filed without payment, which the law treats as ineffective, subject to the exceptions in Article 580-1 of the Tax Code; open customs and foreign exchange files, including those under dispute; and a comparative calculation showing, obligation by obligation, the amount payable today under the benefit against the amount payable after 19 November.

With that picture in hand, the decision stops being a wager and becomes a computation. That is the difference between using a window and watching it close.