TWO NEW CRIMINAL OFFENSES WERE INTRODUCED IN CONNECTION WITH TAX EVASION
The criminal offenses are related with the failure to report assets or the inclusion of non-existent liabilities and the failure to pay withheld taxes
The Tax Reform creates the so-called “Criminal Offenses Against the Tax Administration“. The criminal offense related with the failure to report assets or the inclusion of non-existent liabilities punishes those taxpayers which intentionally omit assets or report inaccurate information in relation to the assets, or who report non-existent liabilities, for a value equal to or greater than seven thousand two hundred and fifty (7,250) minimum legal monthly wages. This behavior will be subject to incarceration for a term of forty-eight (48) up to one hundred and eight (108) months and a fine of twenty percent (20%) of the value of the unreported assets, the value of the asset inaccurately reported or of the value of the non-existent liability.
The criminal offense regarding the omission of duties as withholding agent punishes those withholding agents or self-withholding taxpayers that do not pay before the Tax Administration the withheld taxes within 2 months following the date set by the National Government. The penalty established is incarceration from forty-eight (48) to one hundred and eight (108) months and a fine equal to twice the un-paid amount without exceeding the equivalent of one million twenty thousand (1,020,000) Tax Value Units. This same sanction will be applied to those VAT or National Consumption Taxpayers that, having a legal obligation to do so, do not pay the amounts collected in connection with those taxes within two (2) months following the date set by the National Government.
With regards to both criminal offenses, there is a possibility of extinguishing the criminal action if the taxpayer files or amends the corresponding tax return and makes the applicable payments.
These changes were included in Articles 338 and 339 of Law 1819 of 2016.