Bringing Your Belongings In
Answer
The general rule applies to you
No exception is recorded for citizens of Suriname on this topic. That is the answer, not a gap - everything below is the rule you get, unchanged.
81 exceptions recorded across 33 countries · none match Suriname to Colombia · Bringing your belongings
Colombia's household goods regime is not duty-free and, as published, is not written for foreigners. Menaje is declared under its own tariff heading and taxed at a flat fifteen per cent, and the eligibility conditions DIAN states are framed around Colombians returning after at least twenty-four months abroad. Whether and on what terms a foreign newcomer qualifies is not answered on this page.
At a glance
- Tax
- 15%, a single rate
Not duty-free, unlike Argentina and Uruguay
- Tariff heading
- 9805.00.00.00
A classification in Colombia's customs tariff rather than an amount: subheading 9805.00.00.00, which DIAN names on its menaje page.
- Published conditions are for
- Colombians returning from abroad
- Qualifying time abroad
- 24 months within the previous 3 years
- Arrival window
- 1 month before to 4 months after you
- Frequency
- Once per family unit every 5 years
Requirements
- Menaje is declared under tariff subheading 9805.00.00.00 and taxed at a single rate of 15%
- The conditions DIAN publishes are for Colombian citizens returning to the country
- Those conditions require having lived abroad at least 24 months, continuous or not, in the 3 years immediately before arrival
- The goods must arrive 1 month before or 4 months after the owner, from the country where they were living
- One menaje per family unit every 5 years, on prior certification from the foreign ministry; no import registration or licence needed
In detail
Three countries, and the cheapest move is not where you would guess
Argentina gives a permanent resident household effects free of tax and a used car exempt up to fifteen thousand dollars, but taxes the tools of your trade. Uruguay gives household goods and professional equipment free, and lets you ship before the residency decision against a bond. Colombia taxes the lot at fifteen per cent and publishes its conditions in terms of returning nationals. For anyone moving a household rather than a suitcase, this is a larger sum than most of the visa fees on this site put together, and it points the opposite way from the residency rules, where Colombia is often the easier country.
What applies to you
Nothing changes for a citizen of Suriname
We have no rule recorded that treats your citizenship differently here, so the general rule above is the one that applies to you. That is an answer, not a gap.
What the law says
«Estos elementos, deben ser declarados por la Subpartida arancelaria 9805.00.00.00 sujetos a un impuesto único del 15 %.»Our translation - not official
These items must be declared under tariff subheading 9805.00.00.00, subject to a single tax of 15%.
The sharpest divergence found on this topic. Argentina and Uruguay let an incoming permanent resident bring household goods in free; Colombia charges fifteen per cent of their value.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
Colombia's tax and customs authority. Publishes what the Estatuto Tributario requires, including the residency test in article 10, in language aimed at taxpayers rather than lawyers.
Standing: Applies the rule
Cannot be cited for: Its guidance restates the Estatuto Tributario rather than reproducing it, and we have not read article 10 in the statute itself. DIAN also issues binding conceptos that interpret the article, and those are not visible on the taxpayer-facing pages.
We re-read it every 180 days. More about this source
«Los ciudadanos colombianos que retornen al país tendrán derecho a ingresar artículos personales y el menaje doméstico correspondiente a su unidad familiar.»Our translation - not official
Colombian citizens returning to the country will have the right to bring in personal articles and the household goods corresponding to their family unit.
Read carefully: the entitlement as published is expressed in terms of returning Colombian citizens. The page does not say a foreigner cannot bring household goods, but it does not describe one either, and we do not fill that silence.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
Colombia's tax and customs authority. Publishes what the Estatuto Tributario requires, including the residency test in article 10, in language aimed at taxpayers rather than lawyers.
Standing: Applies the rule
Cannot be cited for: Its guidance restates the Estatuto Tributario rather than reproducing it, and we have not read article 10 in the statute itself. DIAN also issues binding conceptos that interpret the article, and those are not visible on the taxpayer-facing pages.
We re-read it every 180 days. More about this source
«Vivido en el exterior por lo menos 24 meses continuos o discontinuos, durante los 3 años inmediatamente anteriores a su llegada al país.»Our translation - not official
Having lived abroad for at least 24 months, continuous or broken up, during the 3 years immediately before arriving in the country.
Continuos o discontinuos is the operative phrase: the twenty-four months need not be in one stretch, but they have to fall inside the preceding three years.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
Colombia's tax and customs authority. Publishes what the Estatuto Tributario requires, including the residency test in article 10, in language aimed at taxpayers rather than lawyers.
Standing: Applies the rule
Cannot be cited for: Its guidance restates the Estatuto Tributario rather than reproducing it, and we have not read article 10 in the statute itself. DIAN also issues binding conceptos that interpret the article, and those are not visible on the taxpayer-facing pages.
We re-read it every 180 days. More about this source
«El menaje debe llegar a Colombia 1 mes antes o 4 meses después de la fecha de arribo de su propietario con procedencia del país donde se encontraba el titular de este.»Our translation - not official
The household goods must arrive in Colombia 1 month before or 4 months after the owner's date of arrival, and from the country where the holder had been living.
The origin condition travels with the window: goods shipped from a third country fall outside it even when they arrive in time.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
Colombia's tax and customs authority. Publishes what the Estatuto Tributario requires, including the residency test in article 10, in language aimed at taxpayers rather than lawyers.
Standing: Applies the rule
Cannot be cited for: Its guidance restates the Estatuto Tributario rather than reproducing it, and we have not read article 10 in the statute itself. DIAN also issues binding conceptos that interpret the article, and those are not visible on the taxpayer-facing pages.
We re-read it every 180 days. More about this source
«Se pueden ingresar cada 5 años, por unidad familiar, elementos nuevos o usados, cuando el titular regrese del exterior, previa certificación de la Cancillería, para radicarse en Colombia.»Our translation - not official
New or used items may be brought in every 5 years, per family unit, when the holder returns from abroad, on prior certification by the Foreign Ministry, in order to settle in Colombia.
The allowance is counted per family unit rather than per person, and it needs a certification from the Foreign Ministry before customs will take it.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
Colombia's tax and customs authority. Publishes what the Estatuto Tributario requires, including the residency test in article 10, in language aimed at taxpayers rather than lawyers.
Standing: Applies the rule
Cannot be cited for: Its guidance restates the Estatuto Tributario rather than reproducing it, and we have not read article 10 in the statute itself. DIAN also issues binding conceptos that interpret the article, and those are not visible on the taxpayer-facing pages.
We re-read it every 180 days. More about this source
Practical notes
We have not found DIAN's statement of what applies to a foreign resident bringing household goods, as opposed to a returning Colombian. Until that is read, treat the 15% rate as established and the eligibility as unresolved.
Ley 1565 de 2012 provides a separate benefit for returning Colombians and is not a route for foreigners.
- administersMenaje doméstico
DIAN (Colombia)
About this source
Colombia's tax and customs authority. Publishes what the Estatuto Tributario requires, including the residency test in article 10, in language aimed at taxpayers rather than lawyers.
Standing: Applies the rule
Cannot be cited for: Its guidance restates the Estatuto Tributario rather than reproducing it, and we have not read article 10 in the statute itself. DIAN also issues binding conceptos that interpret the article, and those are not visible on the taxpayer-facing pages.
We re-read it every 180 days. More about this source