DIAN REVENUE RULING
DIAN clarifies that joint bank accounts are covered under the exemption for financial transactions tax
The Colombian Tax Authority establishes that such exemption is exclusively limited to one individual. However, this is not an obstacle for its application to this type of bank accounts in compliance with the requirements set on the law
In Revenue Ruling No. 16307 of the 23rd of June 2016, the Colombian Tax Authority — DIAN— clarifies the scope of the term “same and sole holder” under paragraph 14 of Article 879 of the Tax Code regarding the exemption of Tax on Financial Transactions and its application to joint bank accounts. In this vein, the Authority sets that this type of collective accounts are known as those that have several right holders and their classification depends on the way these right holders may dispose of the resources deposited on the account.
As follows, DIAN establishes that according to the aforementioned provision, transfers made between current and/or savings accounts, among others, which belong to a same credit institution and other entities supervised by the Financial Authority, on behalf the same and sole holder, are exempt from Financial Movements Tax. Therefore, as the provision makes reference to the same and sole holder, it is only applicable to one individual and not to several as it does not uses the word holders.
Nevertheless, the Authority determines that in accordance with paragraph 2 of section 14 of Article 879, the Financial Movements Tax exemption extends to transfers made between collective savings or current accounts belonging to the same and sole holder. Therefore, it is concluded that the joint accounts are covered under this benefit as long as they comply with the conditions set on law.