Have you opened a bank account in colombia...

vicshere says on Jul 3, 2007, 15:16:

you need a cedual to open a bank account in Colombia but first you need a visa from MRE or your local Colombian consulate .....get a cedula from the DAS when you are in Colombia

listo

tomtom33 says on Jul 3, 2007, 15:20:

No. If you do a search of this site, you will find many horror stories. If you could, by chance, open the account, lots of luck trying to get the bank to release the money you wire to the account. Don't even try Bancolombia. BBVA said that they would open an account for me if I had a cedula. I do, but I didn't.

Hunter has had some experience with Davivienda.

Saltador says on Jul 3, 2007, 16:26:

tomtom,
Thanks buddy. I am only asking because in talking with Juan he explained to me that he was incurring some kind of tax obligations with people wiring big dollar amounts into his account to buy apartments. Possibly it was different when you bought your apartment....?

BAQ says on Jul 3, 2007, 16:51:

Even after you get your Cedula, SOME BANKS, not all, still want you to have SIX MONTHS of residence history in Colombia before they will open your account.

Semper Fidelis !

tomtom33 says on Jul 3, 2007, 17:05:

Salty, there are many screwy things that happen in Colombia. Logic would dictate that there would be no problem. Logic means squat in Colombia.

If Juan can't handle the transaction, I'm guessing that he can find someone who will-for a fee of course. That would be your next best bet. Also, you could look at someone who would be willing to accept the money in the US. I might be willing to sell my place under those circumstances. However, I would want top dollar - about the same price that Juan is asking for his place in Playa Mar. I think you could get a smaller place for much less.

Medellin is now my primary residence

getting better says on Jul 3, 2007, 17:50:

We have accounts with Bancolombia and Citibank. Initially Banncolombia refused to open an account for us, but when they saw Citibank had done so they changed their mind!
It seems to me that some branches of a particular bank in Colombia can be very awkward and others can very helpful, it may be that it depends more on the branch manager than the bank.

Saltador says on Jul 3, 2007, 18:37:

tomtom,
I can't afford your place :-(, remember I stayed in it on one of my trips. It's primo in my book, but more than I want to spend right now.
I'm going to look around in August and hope to have everything in place so I can buy if the time seems right.
I'm kicking myself for not pursuing the cedula thing with more persistance when I had my Visa. Two wasted half days to DAS three months apart proved fruitless, they gave me a temporary cedula but lost my permanent. My frustration was compounded by my weak spanish, the people at DAS don't suffer los gringos bobos con mucho gusto. I finally just gave up. Now I'm faced with starting all over again. *sigh*

gringoloid says on Jul 4, 2007, 05:45:

DG, are you saying that I will have to pay taxes on my bank deposits?

Saltador says on Jul 4, 2007, 05:46:

Wow, I had no idea they would do that. Can anyone give details on how much those taxes would be, or any other info?

Brians says on Jul 4, 2007, 05:58:

You can'y open a bank account without a Cedula. It is like trying to open an account in the US without a Social Security number. As far as resding for 6 months this is the truth as well but can be avoided if you have a good contact at the bank like in my case. Lastly DG is somewhat right. The tax the shit out of these account. Every transaction like checks written or withdraws is taxed. They are small but they are taxed. They only will tax wires if you are wiring the money incorrectly i.e. to your wife's account (Windfall Tax). Anyway you can contact a lawyer and wire the money directly to the seller's account. This is unsettling a bit but a lawyer can have a contract written that demands the seller release the deed upon reciept of the money. In the case of new construction they would have a Trustee bank that collects the money and distributes it to the builder upon phase completion of the project. This is very safe. Either case I would contact someone like Colombian Lawyer to help as you want to make sure you have the proper documents. It is a small price to pay and since your spanish is poor it would be advisable. I would find a place and make an offer. Then contact Lawyer and work out the details.

vicshere says on Jul 4, 2007, 06:01:

GIB you only pay taxes when your withdraws are more than 4,000,000 in a calendar month..then it is 4 per mill so on 4,000,000 it would run 4,000 pesos...I have had a bank account for a while now and have never paid taxes ...monthly bank charges of course but no tax....of course I never accumulate more than 4,000,000. I think for the average Colombian they don't have to worry about this tax if more for the wealthy folks

listo

tomtom33 says on Jul 4, 2007, 06:03:

I think that the deposit tax only kicks in if you deposit a large amount(maybe over 10 million pesos). Then it is taxed at a very low rate, something on the order of 0.5%. I'm sure that someone will know more about this.

mrxcol says on Jul 4, 2007, 07:08:

The tax is 0.004% of all the money you move into or out from your bank account. You can apply for an exemption for only one bank account and you won't be taxed for money movements up to COP$ 4.000.000. If you move money over this ammount you will be taxed immediately and will appear in your monthly bank report. Of course, the tax is so small is almost always unnoticed.

If you have more than one bank account, you can only apply for this exemption on only one account. And the account should be for a single person not for two persons (sometimes here in colombia an account could belong to up to 4 different persons).

vicshere says on Jul 4, 2007, 10:05:

just went to the bank to use the ATM....I asked the security guard about 4/1000....I know it sounds crazy to ask a security guard by the line for information was just to long and sometimes the security guards are more knowledgeable than some employees...anyway he said the 4/1000 only applies to current accounts not savings accounts...I didn't have time for more questions as I was double parked in front of a bank

listo

pedro says on Jul 4, 2007, 10:16:

Juan may have been talking about a trigger for filing an income tax return.

A large number of Colombians would never need to file an income tax declaration. There are five triggers and if one of them applies to you, you need to declare. Earning more than about 60 million pesos per year is one trigger. Another is making bank transfers of a certain value, I don't remember how much.

que nota!

vicshere says on Jul 4, 2007, 13:19:

ok just got back from the bank.....I talked to the service agent and this is how it works
you can have as many accounts in different banks that you want....you can elect for only one of those accounts to be free of 4/1000.....but you must not have balances over 7,000,000 per month....if it goes over the 7 million then you will tax 4/1000 on the amount above 7 million only so like I said before for the average person the tax doesn't really apply

listo

Saltador says on Jul 4, 2007, 14:18:

vicshere,
eres el hombre! (Does that translate into You da Man?)
Thanks for your efforts to figure this one out!

vicshere says on Jul 4, 2007, 16:01:

forgot when you open the account make sure you tell the agent that your want your account free from 4/1000 they have a special form you to fill out....if you don't do that form they will automatically tax you account even if it only has 500,000 or what even in it...I guess they figure you have other accounts at other banks which have free 4/1000...if you have a bank account check your statement and see if they are charging you 4/1000.....if they are go to the bank and change it..its easy

listo

msaucey says on Jul 5, 2007, 11:44:

I've heard the best bet is just to open your account with CitiBank outside of Colombia and then you should be able to have all the same rights you normally would.... CitiBank has enough of a presence in Colombia...

2 in Barranquilla, 8 in Bogota, 2 in Bucaramonga, 2 in Cali, 2 in Medellin, and 1 in Cartagena...

Any thoughts... I have 3 bank accounts in the U.S., one with Citibank and just want to verify that when I'm down there, all I have to take is my Citibank card to avoid fees....

Thanks

The trouble about trying to make yourself stupider than you really are is that you very often succeed. - CS Lewis

msaucey says on Jul 5, 2007, 12:22:

Okay, I just called CitiBank and they said I can use my U.S. CitiBank card without any fees at their ATM's.... They used to charge a 3% fee, but no longer do so... But, if I want to deposit money or anything like that, I have to go into a branch and open up a new account within Colombia... All I need is my current CitiBank card and cedula....

The trouble about trying to make yourself stupider than you really are is that you very often succeed. - CS Lewis

BAQ says on Jul 5, 2007, 13:17:

Citibank Colombia wanted you to fill out an IRS W-9 ??? GIB, think they would have THROWN me out for shoving that form up their ·&$)=)=/%/=? hahahah

Semper Fidelis !

msaucey says on Jul 5, 2007, 13:34:

Why would they require a W-9?... That's kind of odd....

The trouble about trying to make yourself stupider than you really are is that you very often succeed. - CS Lewis

dwmte7 says on Jul 5, 2007, 18:45:

i opened my account at BIC (bancolombia) about 18 years ago in oviedo (medellin) it was a real complicated issue because they thought i was a traficante. the only foreigner living in medellin in those days. but finally they gave in and all they wanted was cash. no ced. no nada. i've had the account for years. sorry it's such a drag today. same with papers, marriage, visas, etc.

good luck
dw

dwmte