Everything a foreigner needs to start a company or freelance in Colombia — the right vehicle for their status, the step-by-step, real 2026 costs & taxes, where to base, and how not to get scammed. Answer two questions and get a tailored pathway.
Verified 2026-08-09 · SMMLV 1,750,905 · UVT 52,374 · FX ≈ 3,249 · Not legal or tax advice — a licensed partner executes
Find my pathway
The honest rule first: owning shares is allowed on almost any status (even a tourist stamp); but actively running a company, being its legal rep, or drawing Colombian income needs a visa that authorizes it. This chooser applies that rule.
Setup steps (SAS)
The current path — note the pre-RUT was abolished in 2022; the RUT/NIT are now issued automatically with the Cámara registration. Company registered in ~2–7 business days; fully operational in ~2–6 weeks (banking is the bottleneck).
1
Name check (homonimia)
Free, instant at vue.gov.co / RUES. Search variants — no name is reserved, so file promptly.
2
Constitution document
SAS is created by a documento privado (Ley 1258/2008) — no notary unless real estate is contributed as capital. Every shareholder's signature is authenticated (notary or at the Cámara).
3
Matrícula at the Cámara of the domicile city
File the document + RUES form (online or in person) at the Cámara (e.g. Medellín, Bogotá). Pay matrícula (scales with capital/assets) + 0.7% registro tax. RUT + NIT auto-assigned.
4
Formalize RUT + e-signature (DIAN)
The legal rep completes the company RUT in DIAN MUISCA and enables the electronic signature. RUT accepts a passport, but see the cédula catch below.
5
Register foreign investment (Banco de la República)
Capital coming from abroad is wired through an IMC (bank/broker) with the declaración de cambio (Formulario 4) — this auto-registers the FDI and preserves the right to repatriate capital/profits. (Also the evidence for the investor visa.)
6
Corporate bank account — the hard step
Needs a Cámara certificate <30 days, RUT, legal-rep ID, initial deposit. Banks in practice require a cédula de extranjería from the legal rep — a tourist passport is routinely rejected. Plan the visa in parallel.
7
E-invoicing, books, permits
Enable DIAN factura electrónica before invoicing; register libros at the Cámara; check sector permits by activity (RNT tourism, Invima, uso de suelo).
8
If hiring: register as employer
Affiliate company + workers to EPS / AFP / ARL / Caja; pay monthly via PILA. ARL must be active before the worker's first day.
Documents — the person
Valid passport (identifies you); cédula de extranjería for the legal rep + banking
Apostilled + officially translated poder if setting up remotely
Constitution document with all Ley-1258 clauses + RUES form/anexos
Acceptance letters from administrators/legal rep
Foreign corporate shareholder: apostilled certificado de existencia, translated
Matrícula → NIT/RUT; bank account + capital via declaración de cambio; factura electrónica; libros; sector permits
Annual Cámara renewal by 31 March (miss it → registration suspended)
Remote setup: possible via an apostilled + translated poder with a Colombian (or cédula-holding) legal rep. The catch is always the same — an operating legal rep, the bank account, and smooth DIAN onboarding realistically need a cédula, i.e. a visa first (usually M-Socio/Propietario).
Only if assets ≥5,000 SMMLV or revenue ≥3,000 SMMLV (most small SAS: not required)
Annual overhead, small SAS (before profit tax)
~COP 12.4–16.6M · $3,800–5,100 (mostly the contador)
Taxes
Corporate income tax
35% general (+15% minimum effective rate)
Régimen Simple (SIMPLE/RST)
Optional; ceiling 100,000 UVT (~COP 5.24B). Rates by group: retail 1.2–5.6% · services/wholesale 1.6–4.5% · professional 7.3–8.3% · food/transport 3.1–4.5%. Folds in ICA.
IVA
19%; register once gross income ≥ 3,500 UVT (~COP 183M)
ICA (municipal, Medellín)
~2–10‰ of revenue by activity + 15% avisos (verify per code)
Dividends → foreign non-resident
20% final withholding (if paid from untaxed profits: 35% first, then 20%)
⚠️ SIMPLE excludes foreign entities & non-resident owners. A non-resident freelancer can't use SIMPLE as a persona natural — but a Colombian SAS owned by a foreign individual is a national company and can elect SIMPLE. This is often the only route into SIMPLE for a not-yet-resident foreigner.
Tax residency (the owner ≠ the company): the SAS always pays Colombian tax at 35% (or SIMPLE) regardless of where the owner lives. The owner becomes a Colombian tax resident at >183 days in any 365-day window → then their worldwide income is taxable here (treaty relief aside). Non-resident owner = only Colombian-source income (e.g. the 20% dividend withholding).
Where to base
City
Best for
Notes for a foreign founder
Medellín
Tech/startups, nomads, nearshore dev
Fastest-growing ecosystem; Ruta N + ACI Medellín soft-landing; cheaper; strong community. Default for solo/tech. (Nomads-out political rhetoric is a real inflow risk.)
Bogotá
Corporate, finance, B2B, biggest market
Largest market + deepest talent + most VC; higher cost, traffic, altitude.
Zona franca 20% tax: largely closed as an easy win — after Ley 2277/2022 new users need an export/internationalization plan (else 35%) and must physically operate in-zone. Fits manufacturers/exporters, not a solo founder.
Orange economy & general ZESE: repealed/closed to new entrants — historical only.
Régimen SIMPLE: the genuinely useful one for small business (see Costs) — but foreign/non-resident gated.
Exported services can be IVA-exempt (0%) when sold to non-residents and consumed abroad — the most usable rule for a nomad/agency selling abroad (verify conditions).
Ruta N / ACI Medellín / ProColombia: free ecosystem support & credibility — not cash grants.
Fiscal address: a company needs a domicilio (a city) + commercial address, and that choice drives which Cámara you register with. A virtual office / coworking address is standard practice (Medellín ~COP 89k–300k/mo) — practice, not black-letter statute, so confirm acceptance with the specific Cámara.
Scams & partners
The one fact that defuses most scams: an SAS is created by a private document at the Cámara — no notary needed, a foreigner can own 100%, and the RUES name check + RUT/NIT are free, with Cámara fees only a modest capital-scaled amount. If someone charges four figures "for the registration itself," they're billing you for free/cheap government steps. Legitimate spend is on judgment (structure, tax, legal rep, accounting) — not the filing.
🚩 Red flags
Big fees for tasks that are free/5-minutes (RUT, name check, cédula)
No written contract, no receipts/tracking, vague scope/timeline
"We know someone" / guaranteed-fast (con or corruption leverage)
Testaferro / nominee pressure — putting the company or title in someone else's name; illegal exposure + betrayal risk
Overly broad power of attorney; resistance to your own independent lawyer; cash/wire pressure
Fake firms / unlicensed "lawyers"
✅ Vet every partner
Abogado: verify the tarjeta profesional (Registro Nacional de Abogados / SIRNA) + disciplinary record
Contador: verify on the JCC registry (sgr.jcc.gov.co). An unregistered contador's filings count as "not submitted."
Any company: pull its certificado de existencia via RUES to confirm it's real + who signs
ProColombia: free official investment support (info + connections; not an execution partner)
Our compliant offer (we coordinate / a licensed partner executes)
Forming an SAS isn't a lawyer-monopoly (the shareholder can sign/file) — but legal advice & drafting the estatutos/POA require an abogado, accounting/tax filings require a JCC contador, and being the legal rep carries personal liability. So:
Move Colombia CAN: educate, triage the structure at a high level, gather/translate/apostille documents, complete forms with the client, book appointments, be the bilingual liaison, refer to a vetted abogado + contador, and charge a transparent flat coordination fee.
We do NOT: give legal advice, draft/customize estatutos or POAs, sign accounting filings, or serve as the client's legal representative.
Attach revenue: flat coordination fee + referral fee from the abogado/contador + the recurring accounting retainer (the durable line). Itemized pricing (gov pass-through vs our coordination vs partner legal/accounting) is itself the anti-scam differentiator.
⚠️ Gate (Red Team Death #5): entity formed + a lawyer-blessed "we coordinate / partner executes" scope map in place before charging for this service. Recommend Move Colombia never holds the legal-rep role for clients — confirm in the MOU/legal review.