On February 17, 2022 the Dutch Ministry of Finance issued a press release announcing that on February 16, 2022 the Netherlands and Colombia concluded a DTA. According to the press release the DTA is drafted in accordance with the main principles of the OECD an UN Model Treaties.

The press release furthermore states that the DTA contains provisions to combat tax avoidance and that the DTA meets the minimum standards to combat tax avoidance by base erosion and profit shifting as defined in of the OECD/G20 BEPS project.

With respect to loans for infrastructure projects the Netherlands and Colombia have agreed on a reduced withholding tax of 5%. This was agreed upon on the request of the Colombian Government in order to attract foreign financing for such projects.

It is furthermore stated that the Netherlands is the first jurisdiction with which Colombia made arrangements regarding dispute resolution. Therefore taxpayers from the Netherlands or Colombia that have a dispute regarding double taxation, which is not resolved by the competent authorities of both jurisdictions, can submit the matter to a permanent group of experts from the industry who will make a binding ruling on the matter.

Although the DTA has been signed, it has not entered into force yet. For the DTA to enter into force, the respective ratification procedures have to have been finalized in both jurisdictions.

Unfortunately the Dutch Government has not yet published the text of the DTA.

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