How Much Does Incorporation of a Company Cost in Colombia?

How much does it cost to incorporate a company in Colombia?

A single-shareholder SAS (Sociedad por Acciones Simplificada, a simplified joint-stock company) is the cheapest entity, and its government and notary charges stay under about COP 490,000 at modest capital, roughly USD 120. Professional help is the real variable. Do-it-yourself costs only state fees. A full-service package for a foreign owner runs into the thousands of dollars. The table below breaks it down.

*USD figures assume roughly COP 4,000 per USD; the rate moves, so budget in pesos. Acronyms: UVB (Unidad de Valor Básico, the index Colombian Chambers use for fees, COP 11,552 for 2025 per Resolución 3914 de 2024), RUES (Registro Único Empresarial y Social, the national business registry), RUT (Registro Único Tributario), NIT (Número de Identificación Tributaria, the company tax ID), DIAN (Dirección de Impuestos y Aduanas Nacionales, the national tax authority), VAT/IVA (value-added tax).

What government fees do you pay to incorporate in Colombia?

Government fees are the small part of the bill. Only the 0.7% registration tax on subscribed capital scales with your decisions, and the rest are fixed, index-based charges in the tens of thousands of pesos. The table routes every government cost to its legal source, so you can see exactly where state money goes before any adviser adds a markup.

What is the registration tax on subscribed capital?

The registration tax (impuesto de registro) is a departmental tax of 0.3% to 0.7% on subscribed capital, set by each departmental assembly within that band under Ley 223 de 1995. Bogotá and Cundinamarca apply the top rate, 0.7%, under Ordenanza 039 de 2020. On COP 50,000,000 of subscribed capital, that is COP 350,000.

How is the Chamber of Commerce fee calculated?

The matrícula mercantil (commercial registration) is tiered by your company’s total assets and priced in UVB (Unidad de Valor Básico), the annual index unit. The UVB is COP 11,552 for 2025 under Resolución 3914 de 2024. Decreto 045 de 2024 sets the formula between a 2-UVB floor and a 1,000-UVB ceiling.

At the Cámara de Comercio de Bogotá, the base tier is COP 23,104 plus COP 8,086.40 per million pesos of assets, per its 2025 tariff. For a company with COP 20,000,000 in assets, the matrícula is about COP 184,832. Registering the incorporation document adds 6 UVB, or COP 69,312, under Decreto 045 de 2024.

What do the RUES name search and reservation cost?

The RUES name search (consulta de homonimia) is free, per the government’s business name search service, and an optional 30-day reservation adds COP 100,000 to 200,000 to secure your choice during document prep. The only mandatory RUES charge is the registration form, COP 8,100 (0.70 UVB) for 2025 per the Cámara de Comercio de Bogotá tariff. You can run an availability check first with Commenda’s company name checker.

Is RUT/NIT and VAT registration free?

Yes. DIAN charges nothing for RUT or NIT registration, stating the procedure and the form are completely free, and VAT (IVA) registration carries no application fee either. The only cost is optional professional help to file correctly. DIAN warns that anyone charging for the registration itself is not an official channel.

How much do notary, apostille, and translation fees cost?

An SAS incorporates by private document under Ley 1258 de 2008, so it needs no public deed and notary costs are minimal unless real estate is contributed. The one common notarial charge for foreign founders is a power of attorney (POA), fixed at COP 86,200 under Resolución 585 de 2025. An S.A., Ltda, or branch does need a public deed before a notary.

Foreign documents add the real cost. Signature authentication runs COP 2,700 per signature and a simple copy COP 700 per page under the same 2025 notarial tariff. Apostille and sworn translation by an official translator (traductor oficial) happen in the country of origin and are priced per page, so every foreign document adds translation cost that the Colombian schedule does not set.

Which entity type is cheapest to incorporate in Colombia?

The SAS is cheapest because it incorporates by private document, allows a single shareholder, and has no minimum capital under Ley 1258 de 2008. The S.A. (Sociedad Anónima), not the SAS, requires five shareholders and a public deed. The Ltda (limited liability company) and a branch (sucursal) also need a public deed, which raises their cost.

The ~100× monthly minimum wage figure for an S.A. or Ltda is adviser practice to match a more formal profile, not a legal rule. A branch records capital assigned by the foreign head office, which feeds the same 0.7% registration tax.

How much capital should you declare for a Colombian SAS?

There is no legal minimum capital for an SAS under Ley 1258 de 2008, and because the 0.7% registration tax scales with subscribed capital, a low declared capital directly cuts your biggest variable government cost. Declaring COP 10,000,000 instead of COP 100,000,000 drops the tax from COP 700,000 to COP 70,000. The trade-off is credibility: very low capital can slow bank onboarding and worry partners.

What do lawyers and incorporation services charge in Colombia?

Lawyers and services are where the real money goes, since state and notary fees stay under about COP 490,000 for a modest SAS. Standalone legal fees and full-service packages for foreign-owned entities are market-priced and vary widely by provider, scope, and whether banking and first-year compliance are bundled. Treat any quoted USD band as a market estimate, not a government figure, and ask for a line-item breakdown.

Full-service bundles typically cover bylaw drafting, RUES filing, Chamber registration, NIT processing, translation and apostille coordination, bank onboarding support, and sometimes first-year accounting. Clear quotes separate one-time setup from recurring compliance so the same fee is never counted twice.

How much does a registered office or virtual address cost?

A Colombian registered address is mandatory so the Chamber and DIAN can serve notices, and minimal virtual-office plans run a few hundred USD per year as a market estimate. Some providers bundle the address into a formation package, while others bill it as a separate annual charge. A premium Bogotá or Medellín address costs more and can help with banking perceptions.

What does it cost for a foreigner to incorporate an SAS remotely?

Remote incorporation works through an apostilled, translated power of attorney plus a resident legal representative, and those two items are the foreigner premium. The POA is notarized abroad, apostilled under the Hague Convention, translated by an official translator, and couriered to Colombia. Notarizing a POA inside Colombia is COP 86,200 under Resolución 585 de 2025, but the origin-country steps and per-page translation stack on top.

A nominee legal representative adds a recurring fee, since every Colombian company needs one and foreigners often lack a resident option. If you are weighing a Colombian entity against hiring through an employer of record first, Commenda’s entity vs EOR calculator compares the two paths.

What does opening a business bank account cost in Colombia?

Bank account opening carries no large government fee, but it is the practical bottleneck for foreigners: deposits, know-your-customer (KYC) checks, and weeks of delay. Banks commonly require an initial deposit and documented beneficial ownership, and corporate accounts for international setups face heavier due diligence. Incorporation can finish in days while the account takes weeks, so sequence banking early.

How long does it take to incorporate in Colombia?

An SAS can be registered in a few days to about two weeks once documents are ready. The real timeline driver for foreigners is not the Chamber: it is gathering apostilles, sworn translations, couriering originals, and bank onboarding. Expedited processing exists, but rush fees come from law firms and notaries, not the state. No Colombian agency publishes an official fast-track incorporation service.

What are the annual compliance costs for a company in Colombia?

Budget for the matrícula mercantil renewal, accounting, tax filings, and a legal representative, with totals that scale with assets and activity. The renewal uses the same asset-tiered UVB formula as registration under Decreto 045 de 2024. Two items depend on your size: a revisor fiscal (statutory auditor) above certain thresholds, and municipal ICA, which varies by city.

Track these deadlines with Commenda’s compliance calendar so a missed renewal never stacks into penalties.

What hidden or later costs should you budget for?

Amendments, penalties, and rejected filings are where cheap setups get expensive. A capital increase triggers incremental 0.7% registration tax under Ley 223 de 1995, and converting entity type is effectively a mini re-incorporation. DIAN can impose substantial penalties for late or wrong filings, document rejections repeat the notary and translation rounds, and because your budget is in USD while fees are in COP, currency swings move the total.

What does a real incorporation budget look like?

For a single-shareholder SAS with COP 20,000,000 subscribed capital, one foreign owner, and full-service support, the state and notary side totals about COP 488,444, roughly USD 120. Every row below carries a source. The professional package and the apostille-plus-translation chain are the variable, estimated items that push the real all-in into the thousands of dollars for a foreign owner.

How we simplify incorporation in Colombia

Commenda’s incorporation product runs a guided formation workflow with transparent, line-item pricing and compliance tracking from day one, so incorporation follows the same transparent, standardized process whether you register in Colombia or any other country Commenda supports. You get certainty of process and certainty of service: the same standardized steps, a clear scope, and every filing surfaced before it is due. For the next step, see setting up a subsidiary company in Colombia, and check name availability with the company name checker.

Book a demo to get a line-item quote for your Colombian entity before you spend a peso.