Colombia has neither a US tax treaty nor a totalization agreement — and taxes residents worldwide.
There is no US–Colombia income tax treaty and no totalization agreement. Colombian income tax is creditable on Form 1116 under the statute, but nothing resolves a residency conflict and US self-employment tax at 15.3% applies with no relief. Colombia taxes residents on worldwide income once 183 days are met.
Tax snapshot — Colombia
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Sources: IRS Publication 54; IRS Publication 514; IRS Publication 901 (no US–Colombia income tax treaty listed); SSA totalization agreement list; Rev. Proc. 2025-32. Checked 1 September 2026.
What that means on your return
The 183-day rule is the thing to watch. Colombian tax residence begins at 183 days in any 365-day period, and from that point Colombia taxes worldwide income — including your US income. With no treaty there is no tie-breaker to fall back on.
Colombian rates reach 39%, so once residency starts the foreign tax credit is usually competitive with the exclusion on employment income. Before residency starts, the exclusion is doing the work alone.
Colombia's presumptive and wealth-based charges are not income taxes and are not creditable on Form 1116. Only the income tax is.
Remote workers on US payroll are the common case here, and they are also the hardest: US-source income, Colombian worldwide taxation after 183 days, no treaty to allocate between them. That is a planning conversation, not a filing one.
Self-employment income carries the full 15.3% SECA on top of whatever Colombia takes, because there is no totalization agreement.
Questions I get about Colombia
When do I become a Colombian tax resident?
At 183 days of presence in any 365-day period. From that point Colombia taxes worldwide income, and with no US–Colombia treaty there is no residency tie-breaker to resolve the overlap.
Is there a US–Colombia tax treaty?
No, and no totalization agreement either. Colombian income tax is creditable on Form 1116 under the ordinary statutory rules, but self-employment tax at 15.3% applies with no relief.
I work remotely for a US employer from Bogotá. What is the risk?
That you cross 183 days, become Colombian tax resident, and have Colombia tax income the US also taxes, with no treaty to allocate between them. Worth planning before the day-count is reached rather than after.
When is my return due?
15 June, under the automatic extension for filers living abroad. Form 4868 moves it to 15 October, and I file the extension free.
Do I have to file an FBAR for my Colombian bank account?
If your foreign accounts together passed $10,000 at any point in the year, yes. You can file it free through FinCEN's own system. The non-willful penalty for not filing is $16,536.
I have not filed for several years. What now?
The Streamlined Foreign Offshore Procedures: three returns, six FBARs and Form 14653 certifying non-willfulness. Penalties are waived. Note that the IRS terminated the separate Delinquent FBAR Submission Procedures around 1 July 2026.
Filing from Colombia this year?
Twenty minutes with the Enrolled Agent who will prepare and sign it. Complete return, $599.
An IRS Enrolled Agent working only on US tax for Americans living abroad. I prepare and sign every return myself — 17 years in practice, 12 of them as an Enrolled Agent.