Colombia Declaración de Renta Extension 2026: Who Qualifies

Quick answer: Colombia’s DIAN, via Decreto 1226 of August 18, 2026 (detailed by DIAN on August 21), extended the 2026 declaración de renta deadline for roughly 308,000 taxpayers whose RUT-registered tax domicile was in an earthquake-affected municipality as of August 10 — La República put that at 14% of national filers, though DIAN’s own June 2026 calendar announcement projected more than 7 million personas naturales obligated to file for tax year 2025, which puts 308,000 closer to 4% (Presidencia). Only part of that group actually gets a new date: if your NIT ends in 01–26, your filing and payment window moves to October 27–November 13. If your NIT ends in 27–00, your original September or October due date is unchanged — the decree doesn’t touch it. Medellín and the rest of Antioquia are not on the affected list, so most Medellín-based expats keep their original date regardless of NIT.

Verified as of August 23, 2026.

Who does Decreto 1226 actually cover?

A magnitude-7.4 earthquake struck western Colombia on August 10, 2026 (Servicio Geológico Colombiano). The decree applies only to natural persons and unliquidated estates (sucesiones ilíquidas) required to file 2025 income tax, whose two-digit NIT ending falls between 01 and 26 and whose RUT-registered tax address as of that date fell within the jurisdiction of one of nine DIAN seccionales, grouped here by department (El Espectador; Actualícese):

• Valle del Cauca: Cali, Palmira, Tuluá, Buenaventura
• Chocó: Quibdó
• Risaralda: Pereira
• Quindío: Armenia
• Caldas: Manizales
• Cauca: Popayán

Large taxpayers (grandes contribuyentes) are excluded (El Colombiano).

Antioquia and Medellín aren’t among the covered seccionales — consistent with the same six departments (Caldas, Chocó, Quindío, Risaralda, Valle del Cauca, and Cauca) that anchored the banking sector’s separate earthquake debt-relief package (El Colombiano), which also left Antioquia out. The decree draws its legal authority from the national disaster declaration issued the day after the quake (Decreto 1171 of August 11, 2026).

One important guardrail: DIAN says changing your RUT’s registered address after August 10 doesn’t automatically qualify you for the extension. You’d need to prove with admissible evidence that your domicile was already in an affected municipality before the quake (Actualícese) — so this isn’t a workaround for filers elsewhere in the country looking for extra time.

The declaración de renta deadline extension 2026: new dates by NIT

Colombia’s ordinary 2026 declaración de renta calendar for personas naturales runs from August 12 through October 26, with due dates assigned by the last two digits of each filer’s NIT or cédula, in ascending order (Infobae; DIAN calendar). The August portion of that standard calendar:

NIT ending	Due date
01–02	Aug 12
03–04	Aug 13
05–06	Aug 14
07–08	Aug 18
09–10	Aug 19
11–12	Aug 20
13–14	Aug 21
15–16	Aug 24
17–18	Aug 25
19–20	Aug 26
21–22	Aug 27
23–24	Aug 28
25–26	Aug 31

(Forbes Colombia). The calendar then continues through September for NIT endings 27–66, and into October for endings 67–00, closing on October 26 — look up your exact date on DIAN’s official calendar if your NIT falls in that range.

For the affected taxpayers whose NIT ends in 01–26 — the cohort whose ordinary due dates fell in August — that window shifts instead. The decree sets the new dates in business days — from the 18th business day of October through the 9th business day of November — which land on these 2026 calendar dates (El Colombiano; La República):

NIT ending	Due date
01–02	Oct 27
03–04	Oct 28
05–06	Oct 29
07–08	Oct 30
09–10	Nov 3
11–12	Nov 4
13–14	Nov 5
15–16	Nov 6
17–18	Nov 9
19–20	Nov 10
21–22	Nov 11
23–24	Nov 12
25–26	Nov 13

Filers in the nine affected seccionales whose NIT ends in 27–00 already had September or October due dates and were not moved by Decreto 1226 — their ordinary deadline stands, because it falls well after the quake and DIAN did not extend it (INCP).

DIAN framed the extension as recognition that people dealing with earthquake damage to homes, businesses, and basic services shouldn’t also be racing a normal tax deadline in the middle of that (El Espectador).

The decree sits alongside an earlier, narrower measure: DIAN had already suspended tax, customs, and foreign-exchange actions from August 13–25 at its branch offices in the same nine affected cities (El Colombiano) — a short administrative pause, distinct from this two-month filing extension.

Does the declaración de renta deadline extension apply to expats in Medellín?

Only if your RUT-registered tax domicile was, as of August 10, actually inside one of the affected seccionales — which for most Medellín-based readers it isn’t. If you’re a foreigner who crossed Colombia’s 183-day tax-residency threshold (Estatuto Tributario, Art. 10, via DIAN) and you’re registered with DIAN in Medellín, Envigado, or elsewhere in Antioquia, this decree doesn’t touch you — you’re still working against the standard August 12–October 26 calendar. For the residency rule itself and what it means for what you owe, see our earlier look at how Colombia’s stalled tax reform would have affected expat tax residents.

If you do have a RUT address in one of the nine affected cities — say, a rental property, a small business, or a former residence in Pereira or Cali — confirm your specific status and NIT-based date directly with DIAN or a Colombian accountant rather than assuming either calendar applies. RUT records and municipality boundaries can be more granular than the seccional list suggests.

The bottom line

This is a real, decreed extension — not a proposal — but it’s narrow: it covers roughly 4% of the more than 7 million citizens DIAN expects to file nationwide, tied to a specific tax address as of a specific date, a specific set of cities, and NIT endings 01–26 only. Everyone else — including filers with NIT 27–00 in the affected cities, and the large majority of Medellín’s foreign tax residents — files on the ordinary calendar that started August 12 and runs through October 26. Check your own NIT-based due date on DIAN’s official calendar, and if you’re unsure which calendar applies to you, confirm with a licensed Colombian accountant before a deadline passes.

This article is reporting on a government decree, not tax or legal advice. Your filing obligations depend on your individual RUT registration and residency status — confirm your specific situation with DIAN or a licensed Colombian accountant.