An Update on Dividend Withholding Tax Rate for Colombia

The Colombia Dividend Withholding Tax Rate for US residents seems to have changed to 7.01% in 2020. This is different than the 10% rate listed in the Dow Jones tax table updated for this year. But according to Deloitte, Tax Foundation and other sites the rate is defined as 8 to 7.5%.

Colombian oil giant EcoPetrol(EC) paid a dividend of $0.53 per share last month with an ex-dividend date of 12/26 of 2019. For this dividend, my broker charged a dividend withholding tax at the rate of 7.01%.

This rate was charged both in qualified retirement accounts and taxable accounts.

Last year the rate was 7.50% in all accounts. It should be noted ADR fees is in addition to the dividend withholding tax.

It is possible that Ecopetrol’s dividend rate was slightly smaller since it was a special dividend. If I get an update from Investor Relations on this, I will post an update.

In 2018, the rate was 5%. Colombia increased it to 7.50% in 2019.

Disclosure: Long EC

2 Comments

  1. Hi there, thank you for the update. Is Colombia on the list of countries that you can write off the dividend withholding?If so, do you need to file the form 1116? I can’t seem to find the answer to this anywhere.

    Thank you

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