How our free tools work
Educational information, not legal or tax advice. A result does not decide your legal or tax status.
Our tools count dates, match published calendars, estimate costs or read text. This page explains how each result is produced and what it leaves out.
These dates record different checks. A calculation check compares this explanation with the tool. A source check records a review of the linked rule or dataset. Neither is a legal opinion.
Day counter
Inputs: actual entry and exit dates, visa category and the selected start date for the ID card deadline. An empty exit date uses today in Colombia.
- Count both the entry date and exit date. Count an overlapping date once.
- For the tourist count, total the entered days in the current calendar year. Also count the current open stay. Compare these counts with the standard annual and stay limits shown in the tool.
- For the ID card date, add 15 calendar days to the selected start date. Compare that date with today in Colombia.
- For the tax count, find the largest number of distinct entered days in any 365 consecutive days. Flag a count above 183.
Example
1 January to 2 July 2026 counts as 183 days. A stay through 3 July counts as 184 days.
Limits
The tax result is the highest count in the entered history, not just the 365 days before today. It does not assign a tax year or apply every residency test or treaty rule. The permit count does not read an approved stay or extension. The ID card date does not decide whether a visa is exempt. Future stay dates are not accepted.
Source checks recorded
- Migración Colombia: stay extension — Checked:
- Migración Colombia: foreigner ID card — Checked:
- Resolution 5477 of 2022, article 118 — Checked:
- Colombian Tax Code, article 10 — Checked:
Deadline checker
Inputs: the last two identifier digits and the calendar, city and other options selected in the tool.
- Match the selected options and identifier digits to the published calendar rows.
- Show the recorded date and its source. Keep the tax year separate from the year in which a return is filed.
- Apply a special calendar only when the user selects its conditions. For the calendar download, include the selected dated events.
Example
In the general DIAN calendar used by the tool, identifier endings 99 and 00 match 26 October 2026 for tax year 2025.
Limits
A matching date does not establish a filing duty. Special extensions can change a date. A business-day rule without a recorded calendar date is not a confirmed due date. The tool covers the calendars and conditions listed on its page.
Source checks recorded
- DIAN, Calendario Tributario 2026 — Checked:
- DIAN normograma, Decreto 2229 de 2023 (art. 1.6.1.13.2.15) — Checked:
- DIAN normograma, Decreto 1226 de 2026 — Checked:
- DIAN, Comunicado de Prensa No. 105 de 2026 — Checked:
- Bogotá: Secretaría Distrital de Hacienda, Resolución SDH 000195 de 2025 — Checked:
- Medellín: Alcaldía de Medellín, Decreto 080 de 2026 — Checked:
- DIAN: third-party information reporting, tax year 2025 — Checked:
- DIAN normograma, Resolución 000227 de 2025 (arts. 1.3.1.1 and 1.3.9.1.3) — Checked:
- DIAN, Comunicado de Prensa No. 053 de 2026 — Checked:
- IRS, When to file — Checked:
- IRS, Automatic 2-month extension (abroad) — Checked:
- IRS, Extension of time to file — Checked:
- IRS, FBAR — Checked:
Closing costs
Inputs: price, cadastral value, buyer or seller role, department, fee allocation and any new mortgage.
- Use the higher of the sale price and cadastral value for the sale notary and registry base. Use the sale price for withholding. Use the loan amount for a new mortgage.
- For ordinary sale notary fees, add the fixed fee to the rate on the amount above the threshold. For registry fees, apply the selected band to the whole base.
- Apply the listed VAT, registry surcharge, registration tax and seller withholding where modeled. Allocate buyer and seller amounts using the selected shares.
- Round registry fees and their combined surcharge assessment to the nearest 100 pesos. Round the other displayed charges and party shares to whole pesos. Add the charges assigned to the selected party.
Example
A registry band applies to the whole base. It is not a set of marginal slices like an income-tax table.
Limits
This is an ordinary resale estimate. It does not cover every stamp, copy, certificate, exemption, housing category or local addition. A new mortgage uses the modeled rules. The notary and registry determine the final charges. Rates and assumptions remain visible in the calculator.
Source checks recorded
- Notary and registry regulator (SNR): 2026 tariffs — Checked:
- DIAN: value-added tax and seller withholding — Checked:
- Antioquia: registration tax — Checked:
- Cundinamarca: registration tax — Checked:
- SNR: notary fees — Checked:
PILA calculator
Inputs: work type, monthly income before VAT, permitted own-account costs, risk class and contribution options. USD inputs also need the exchange rate entered by the user.
- Convert USD income to Colombian pesos using the entered exchange rate. Subtract entered costs only for own-account work.
- Calculate 40% of the relevant income. Apply the modeled minimum contribution base and the combined cap of 25 minimum wages.
- Apply the modeled health, pension, solidarity-fund and work-risk rates to that base.
- Separate work-risk amounts assigned to the contracting party from the worker total. Round each displayed contribution to whole pesos.
Example
For COP 5,000,000 of personal-service income, the 40% base is COP 2,000,000, before any applicable floor or cap.
Limits
The result is before the PILA operator’s payment rounding. Income below one minimum wage is outside this ordinary estimate; it is not a zero-payment result. Pension exemptions, special regimes and other income can change the obligation. The tool reports a business day of the next month, not a holiday-adjusted calendar date.
Source checks recorded
- UGPP: own-account workers — Checked:
- UGPP: personal-service contracts — Checked:
Title certificate reader
Input: text copied from a title certificate. The sample is fictional.
- Split the pasted text into recognized entries and extract the fields that the text makes available.
- Match recognized legal-nature codes to the source table. Show unknown codes without inventing a meaning.
- Link a cancellation to an earlier entry only when the pasted text contains an explicit reference. Keep the copied text available for comparison.
Example
A cancellation entry that explicitly refers to entry 002 can be linked to entry 002. That text link is not proof of the current legal status.
Limits
The reader does not query the registry, authenticate a certificate, confirm ownership or perform a lawyer’s title study. Missing text, copying errors and unrecognized wording can hide entries or cancellation links.
Source checks recorded
- SNR Resolution 07448 of 2021: compiled code table — Checked:
- SNR Resolution 10454 of 2022 — Checked:
- Civil Code, articles 823, 824 and 840 — Checked:
- Civil Code, article 880 — Checked:
- Civil Code, articles 849 and 850 — Checked:
Inputs and privacy
These calculations run in the browser. The five tools do not send or save the dates, amounts, identifier digits or certificate text entered for a result. The site sends page-view and usage events. Email signup and purchases use separate forms and privacy notices.
Reviews and corrections
Our review target is monthly, and after a reported official rule change. The dates above show the checks recorded so far. They do not mean that every source is monitored continuously. A rate or calendar keeps its own source date and expiry. We do not advance a check date just because a page is rebuilt.
To report an error, email hello@colombiaready.com with the page address, the rule in question and an official source. Do not send travel records, identity numbers or a title certificate.