The National Tax and Customs Directorate – DIAN, through Opinion No. 009219 (Int. 975) of May 29, 2026, reconsidered the position established in Opinion No. 001221 of February 2026, relating to the application of article 705-1 of the Tax Statute and the finality periods (statute of limitations) of VAT and withholding-at-source returns.
What does the DIAN establish?
According to the new doctrinal criterion, the finality period of VAT and withholding-at-source returns is determined by reference to the finality period applicable to the income and complementary tax return for the same tax year, under the terms established by article 705-1 of the Tax Statute.
Consequently, when the income tax return is subject to a special finality period, this period may likewise extend to the VAT and withholding-at-source returns for the same tax year.
Opinion 009219 clarifies that article 705-1 of the Tax Statute unifies the finality period and the term for notifying the special assessment notice for VAT and withholding-at-source returns with that of the income tax return, provided the periods coincide with the same tax year.
How does the finality period work?
| Situation of the income tax return | Income tax finality | VAT and withholding finality |
| General rule | 3 years | 3 years |
| Tax losses are assessed or offset | 5 years | 5 years* |
| Taxpayer subject to the transfer pricing regime | 5 years | 5 years* |
| Audit benefit | 6 or 12 months | 3 years |
* Provided the VAT and withholding periods coincide with the tax year of the income tax return. The opinion clarifies that the offsetting of a tax loss constitutes a special period only for the income tax return; in that case, if the periods coincide, VAT and withholding follow the corresponding 5-year period.
When the VAT and withholding-at-source periods do not coincide with the tax year of the income tax return, the finality period of those returns will be three (3) years, regardless of the special period that may apply to the income tax return.
A relevant exception: the audit benefit
The DIAN clarifies that the audit benefit does not automatically extend to VAT and withholding-at-source returns.
Therefore, even when an income tax return may become final within a reduced period by application of article 689-3 of the Tax Statute, the VAT and withholding-at-source returns for the same tax year will, in principle, retain the three (3) year finality period.
Opinion 009219 expressly states that, when the income tax return enjoys the audit benefit, the finality period of the VAT and withholding-at-source returns will be 3 years.
What changed compared to the previous criterion?
Opinion No. 001221 of February 2026 had held that the special finality periods applicable to the income tax return did not modify or extend the general finality period of VAT and withholding-at-source returns.
With Opinion No. 009219 of 2026, the DIAN reconsiders this position and recognizes the special nature of article 705-1 of the Tax Statute, whose application allows the finality periods of these returns to be unified with those of the income tax return when the corresponding periods coincide with the same tax year.
This interpretation is also based on the case law of the Council of State, Judgment of August 5, 2021, docket 22105.
What is the impact for taxpayers?
The new criterion must be taken into account in tax risk management and in determining the periods that may still be subject to audit by the Tax Administration.
In particular, taxpayers should review:
- Income tax returns that have tax losses.
- Returns related to transfer pricing.
- Periods in which special finality periods exist.
- Whether the tax periods of the VAT and withholding-at-source returns coincide with the tax year of the income tax return.
- The VAT and withholding-at-source returns associated with those periods.
- Audit proceedings involving periods whose finality must be determined under article 705-1 of the Tax Statute.
DIAN Opinion No. 009219 of 2026 represents a change from the doctrine issued a few months earlier and reaffirms the application of article 705-1 of the Tax Statute as a special rule for determining the finality periods of VAT and withholding-at-source returns.
Before concluding that a return has become final, it is necessary to jointly analyze the income tax return for the same tax year and verify whether any of the circumstances that give rise to a special finality period apply.