Capital Gains Tax in Colombia 2026: Ganancia Ocasional, Rates and Exemptions

Colombia taxes capital gains under a separate regime called ganancia ocasional, with its own flat rate and its own list of exemptions. It is not part of the progressive income tax, and a good deal of what circulates in English about it is simply out of date. This guide works from the Estatuto Tributario itself.

What Ganancia Ocasional Is

Article 299 of the Estatuto Tributario is the gatekeeper: ganancia ocasional covers only the items listed in the articles that follow it. If something is not on that list, it is ordinary income, not a capital gain. In practice the regime covers profits on the sale of long-held assets, inheritances and estates, gifts, life insurance payouts above a threshold, and lottery or gambling winnings.

This distinction matters because the two regimes are taxed completely differently. Ordinary income runs through the progressive rate schedule that tops out at 39%. Ganancia ocasional is a flat 15%. Getting an item into the wrong bucket can move your bill substantially in either direction.

The Two-Year Rule

For anyone flipping property this is the single most consequential line in the chapter. A sale at 23 months and a sale at 25 months are taxed under different regimes, and for a higher earner the ordinary rate is more than double the capital gains rate. The clock runs on how long the asset was held, not on when the money arrives.

The Rates

There are two, and only two, that most people will meet:

• 15% for resident individuals on ganancia ocasional generally, under article 314, as amended by article 33 of Ley 2277 de 2022
• 20% on lotteries, raffles, betting and similar winnings, under article 317

If you are not a Colombian tax resident, article 316 sets the same 15% on ganancias ocasionales from Colombian sources, so leaving the country does not move you to a lower capital gains rate on Colombian assets.

Understanding the UVT

Colombian tax thresholds are almost never written in pesos. They are written in UVT, the Unidad de Valor Tributario, and DIAN republishes the peso value of one UVT every December for the year ahead. That is why exemption amounts rise every year without Congress touching the law.

For 2026 the UVT is 52,374 pesos, fixed by DIAN Resolution 000238 of December 2025. Every peso figure on this page is that number multiplied by the UVT count in the statute, so if you are reading this in a later year, recompute with the current UVT rather than trusting the pesos.

The Exemptions

Article 307 carries the inheritance and estate exemptions, and articles 311-1 and 303-1 cover home sales and life insurance. At the 2026 UVT they work out as follows.

Article 307 also exempts the deceased's books, clothing, personal effects and household furniture outright, with no threshold. The exemptions for the spousal portion and for each heir apply per person, so a larger estate divided among several heirs shelters considerably more than the headline number suggests.

Selling Your Home: The Condition Nobody Mentions

Both traps have to be handled before closing. If you are planning a sale, check the ownership clock first, then talk to your accountant and your bank about opening the AFC account. Retrofitting either one afterwards is generally not possible.

What Is Not a Capital Gain

Because article 299 is a closed list, several things people assume are capital gains are not:

• CDT interest. Deposit interest is ordinary income. The bank withholds 4% at maturity (article 1.2.4.2.32 of Decreto 1625 de 2016, lowered from 7% by Decreto 2418 de 2013), credited on your annual return. See our guide to the best CDT rates in Colombia.
• Savings account interest. Also ordinary income, but withheld under a different and older provision: article 1.2.4.2.87 applies the article 1.2.4.2.5 formula of 10% on 70% of the payment, and only once daily interest reaches 0.055 UVT (about 2,881 pesos a day at the 2026 UVT). That is the source of the 7% figure people often misapply to CDTs.
• Profits on assets held under two years. Ordinary income, per article 300.
• Rental income. Ordinary income, not a gain on disposal.
• Salary, pensions and business income. All ordinary income under the progressive schedule covered in our Colombian taxes guide.

When to Hire an Accountant

Ganancia ocasional is worth paying for advice on, because the amounts are usually large and the rules turn on conditions you must satisfy in advance. Hire a Colombian contador if:

• You are selling property and want the article 311-1 exemption
• You have received or expect an inheritance
• You are close to the two-year line on an asset you plan to sell
• You are a Colombian tax resident with assets abroad that you may dispose of

Capital gains and ordinary income go on the same annual return but under different schedules, so the two interact. That is precisely the situation where professional help pays for itself.