Colombia’s national tax office, DIAN, is to get new powers to audit and control state royalties from mineral and raw material exports, Portafolio reported Tuesday.
The new powers aim to introduce drastic measures such as the revocation of all operating contracts in the case of false declaration, settlement or non-payment of royalties.
Representative David Barguil tols Portfolio that “the idea is that there be a second round of auditing, in addition to that which is done by the Ministry of Mines.” He went on to say that DIAN is the best placed body to monitor the royalties because it knows how to understand accounts, and is aware of the raw materials being exported.
The new rules also dictate that payment of royalties in a necessary condition for operators to access the tax benefits that government offers to promote more activity in the mining and raw materials sectors.