Colombia's Ministry of Health has extended the health emergency declaration for COVID-19 until 30 April 2022. With the extension, several emergency tax measures are extended accordingly. These include the following:

• Temporary VAT exemption on hotel and tourism services and services provided by establishments selling food and beverages in the framework of a franchise agreement;
• Temporary VAT exemption on raw materials for the production of medicines and the temporary VAT zero rate on the import and sale of specified medical supplies and devices;
• Abbreviated procedures for the automatic refund of income tax and VAT balances, which includes that for taxpayers not considered high-risk, income tax and VAT refunds will be provided within 15 days of request (normally takes up to 50 days), with the possibility of expedited refunds for taxpayers considered high-risk, subject to additional review and processing; and
• Relaxed conditions to apply for the holding company regime (Compañías Holding Colombianas, CHC), including that the required documents can be submitted via email and, if the documents were issued abroad, the apostille or consular legalization can be submitted up to 60 days after the date on which the emergency declaration is lifted.

The measures will generally continue to apply until 30 April 2022, although the Ministry of Health may lift the emergency declaration earlier or provide a further extension.