Colombia jumps 25 places in the World Bank’s ranking of business-friendly tax regimes.
The country rose from 120th to 95th place in the tax section of the World Bank Doing Business report, which ranks countries according to how easily businesses can operate there. In the overall ease of doing business ranking Colombia rose five places, from 47 to 42.
The annual report assesses the costs for domestic firms to do business in 183 economies. It looks at several criteria, including the ease of starting a business, cross-border trade and the ease of paying taxes.
Colombia’s improvement can likely be attributed to the wider use of electronic tax filing, according to Luis Carlos Robayo, managing partner at Russell Bedford Colombia S.A., a leading accounting and audit network. Certain major taxes are now solely filed electronically.
Colombian businesses are required to file taxes only nine times a year, lower than the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) average, which is 13. Colombians spend approximately 193 hours per year on tax compliance, which is in line with the OECD average of 186.
Commenting on the World Bank report, Robayo said, “It is highly encouraging to see recent administrative reforms boosting the country’s investment appeal. (…) We will continue to support any initiatives to reduce what can often be an unnecessarily cumbersome burden, particularly on new and developing businesses.”