Before you start

A passport, and a cédula de extranjería once you hold a visa, which allows online RUT registration
An honest day-count of time physically in Colombia across any rolling 365-day window, entry and exit days included
Records of worldwide income and assets, including foreign balances and property
For a letting business: the property title, the horizontal-property reglamento, and land-use certification from the district

Step-by-step

1
Track your days from the day you land
You become a Colombian tax resident on an aggregate 183 days or more within any 365 consecutive days. The window rolls rather than following the calendar year, and residency attaches in the year the 183rd day falls. Residents are taxed on worldwide income; non-residents only on Colombian-source income — which, note, includes rent from a Cartagena flat whether you are resident or not.
OnlineWho: You, or a Colombian contadorOngoing from arrival
2
Register a free RUT with DIAN
The RUT is your DIAN registration and generates your NIT. With a cédula you can usually do it online through MUISCA; with only a passport, DIAN's Cartagena office handles it by appointment with a pre-filled Formulario 001 and a passport copy. It is free, and banks increasingly want it before opening a foreigner's account.
OnlineWho: You, with DIANSame day to about a weekFree
3
Convert thresholds using the correct year's UVT
Nearly every Colombian tax figure is quoted in UVT, republished by DIAN each December for the following year. Filing obligations trigger at 1,400 UVT of gross income, consumption or bank deposits, and 4,500 UVT of gross worldwide assets — a threshold a Cartagena property alone can cross. A return filed this year for last year's income uses last year's UVT.
OnlineWho: You or your contadorAn hour or two
4
Register for district ICA if you invoice independently from Cartagena
The Impuesto de Industria y Comercio is a district tax on industrial, commercial and service activity carried on within Cartagena, charged on gross receipts at a rate per thousand set by activity code, and filed with the district's hacienda rather than DIAN. Salaried employment is outside ICA. Independent professionals and letting businesses operating from a Cartagena address are generally inside it, and the rates and calendar are Cartagena's own.
OnlineWho: You, with Cartagena's Secretaría de Hacienda DistritalRegistration once; returns on the district calendarRate per thousand of gross receipts, by activity code
5
If you will let short-term, get the tourism side right first
Accommodation for stays under thirty days is a tourism service. It requires active registration in the Registro Nacional de Turismo, and in an apartment building the horizontal-property reglamento must expressly permit the provision of accommodation — administrators can report unauthorised units and the Superintendencia de Industria y Comercio enforces. Land-use certification from the district is also part of the file. Confirm the reglamento before you buy, not after.
OnlineWho: You, with MinCIT via the chamber of commerce, plus your building's administrationBefore the first booking; RNT renewed annually
6
File the declaración de renta between August and October
The tax year is the calendar year and the individual filing window runs roughly mid-August to late October, with your date fixed by the last two digits of your NIT as shown on the RUT, ignoring the verification digit. File and pay through MUISCA. Property owners should also diarise the district's annual predial deadlines, which are separate and carry their own early-payment discount.
OnlineWho: You or your contadorAnnual, on your NIT-assigned dateFiling is free; a contador handling a foreigner's return typically charges from COP 400,000 upward

Documents you’ll need

Passport and cédula de extranjería
RUT certificate showing your NIT
Income evidence: foreign and Colombian income, rental receipts, retención en la fuente certificates
Asset and bank records for the patrimonio declaration, valued at the 31 December exchange rate
For letting: RNT certificate, the horizontal-property reglamento and district land-use certification

Things most newcomers don’t know

Letting your Cartagena flat for stays under thirty days is a regulated tourism activity, and your building's by-laws — not the platform — decide whether you may do it at all.

Registration in the Registro Nacional de Turismo is mandatory, and for an apartment the horizontal-property reglamento must expressly authorise the provision of accommodation. Administrators report unauthorised units to the Superintendencia de Industria y Comercio. Buyers who model their numbers on nightly rates without reading the reglamento can find the entire business case illegal in that building.

Source: MinCIT — Registro Nacional de Turismo; Ley 675 de 2001 (propiedad horizontal)

The rules on short-term letting are actively being tightened. A draft decree circulating in 2026 would make platforms verify hosts' registrations every six months and delist those without one.

This is a live policy fight between the hotel sector and the platforms rather than a settled position, and Cartagena is the city most exposed to the outcome. Anyone buying to let should assume enforcement gets stricter rather than looser, and should not build a return on the current level of informality persisting.

Source: Proposed MinCIT decree on the Registro Nacional de Turismo (2026)

Rental income from a Cartagena property is Colombian-source income and is taxable here even if you are not a Colombian tax resident.

The 183-day residency test decides whether Colombia taxes your worldwide income; it does not decide whether Colombia taxes Colombian rent. Non-resident owners still have Colombian obligations on the rent, and typically need a RUT and often a local representative. Owners who spend three months a year here routinely assume they are outside the system entirely.

Source: PwC Worldwide Tax Summaries — Colombia, income determination and non-residents

The new Centro Histórico management plan carries real financial incentives for heritage owners — partial predial relief, lower utility strata in specific cases, and transferable building rights — but it was only approved by the heritage council in June 2026 and awaits its ministerial resolution.

These are exactly the sort of incentives that change the economics of restoring a colonial house, and equally the sort of thing a seller will describe as already in force. Until the Ministerio de Culturas issues the formal resolution, treat the detail as pending and get the position in writing from the district before you price a restoration on it.

Source: Consejo Nacional de Patrimonio Cultural — PEMP Centro Histórico de Cartagena (June 2026)

Common mistakes to avoid

Buying an apartment to let by the night without first reading the horizontal-property reglamento, which may prohibit accommodation outright.
Letting short-term without active RNT registration, which the Superintendencia de Industria y Comercio can sanction.
Assuming a digital-nomad visa or a foreign employer keeps you outside Colombian tax residency — only staying under 183 days in any rolling 365 does.
Believing that not being a tax resident means Colombian rental income is untaxed — it is Colombian-source and taxable regardless.
Pricing a heritage restoration on PEMP incentives that were approved in June 2026 but are not yet formally in force.

Some of this may be out of date. Spotted something inaccurate? Help us keep it right for the next newcomer.