Colombian Tax Authority Tightens Control Over Cryptocurrency Usage

The DIAN, the Colombian tax authority, has announced it is taking special measures to tighten controls on taxpayers currently using cryptocurrencies to transact. With these actions, the organization seeks to detect any taxpayers that have used crypto assets and failed to report these activities, or reported them erroneously. This action seeks to thwart cryptocurrency-related tax evasion in the country.

Colombian Tax Authority Targets Tax Evaders

The Colombian tax authority, called the DIAN, has announced that its next target is cryptocurrency-utilizing tax evaders. According to a PR statement released January 28, the institution stated that it was undertaking a series of measures to tighten controls on taxpayers using cryptocurrencies for transacting or trading purposes.

While these actions have not been specifically disclosed, the measures follow the objective of gaining more clarity about the movement of cryptocurrency users and traders in the country. The DIAN stated:

These actions seek to establish a tax control for omitted or inaccurate taxpayers who in the Income and Complementary Tax did not record the income obtained from operations with cryptocurrencies or recorded them inaccurately.

The organization further explained this is part of the anti-money laundering and terrorism financing policies of the Colombian state. For this objective, the institution also announced that an agreement signed between Colombia and Finland would be key, allowing the free trade of information between the institutions of both countries. Localbitcoins, one of the leading peer-to-peer (P2P) based cryptocurrency exchanges in the world, is based in Finland.

Colombia and Crypto

The presence of cryptocurrencies in Colombia has been steadily growing, though the adoption is still small compared with other countries on the continent — like Venezuela or Argentina. However, there have been attempts to integrate crypto into traditional finance with the objective of easing the introduction of the new assets into the ecosystem.

One project, called the crypto sandbox, allowed exchanges to work in tandem with banks, giving the opportunity for cryptocurrency users to make crypto purchases with direct support from banking institutions. Also, Colombia ranks second in Latam for the highest number of cryptocurrency ATMs, just behind El Salvador, which raised its numbers due to the establishment of Chivo wallet ATMs.