Tool 7.8

Colombian IVA calculator: add or remove 19% or 5%

Add IVA to a price or take it out of a total at 19% or 5%, in whole pesos, and see what exempt and excluded mean. It runs in your browser.

Runs on your deviceRuns entirely in your browser: nothing you type or upload leaves your device.

An informational estimate; not legal, employment or tax advice.

How to use it

Choose whether your amount is the price before IVA or a total that already includes it.
Choose the rate (19% general, 5%, exempt or excluded) and type the amount in pesos.
Read the base, the IVA and the total in whole pesos, and copy them if you need them. Nothing you type leaves your browser.

Taking IVA out of a total: divide, don't take 19% off

Prices for consumers in Colombia include IVA, so the usual question is how much of a total is tax. Divide the total by 1,19 (or by 1,05 at 5%) to get the base, and subtract the base from the total to get the IVA: $ 119.000 is a base of $ 100.000 and $ 19.000 of IVA. Taking 19% of the total gives $ 22.610, too much, because the 19% applies to the base, not to the total.

The tool works in whole pesos. When the division isn't exact, it rounds the base and leaves the rest as IVA, so base plus IVA always equals your total: $ 10.000 at 19% is a base of $ 8.403 and $ 1.597 of IVA. An invoice may carry cents and round another way, so a difference of one peso is normal.

Which rate applies: 19%, 5%, exempt or excluded

The general rate is 19% (Estatuto Tributario, ET, art. 468) for everything the law doesn't place elsewhere. Articles 468-1 and 468-3 list the goods and services at 5%. Exempt goods (ET art. 477), such as beef, milk and eggs, and exports (ET art. 481) are taxed at 0%. Excluded goods and services (ET arts. 424 and 476) don't cause IVA at all.

For the buyer, exempt and excluded look the same: no IVA on the price. The difference is for the seller. An exempt seller can deduct the IVA it paid on its purchases and ask for it back; an excluded seller can't, because only IVA on purchases for taxed operations is deductible (ET art. 488), so that IVA becomes part of its cost.

Who adds IVA, and what this tool doesn't check

Only a seller responsible for IVA adds it. Natural persons who sell at retail, small farmers and ranchers, and people who provide services are not responsible if they meet every condition of ET art. 437 par. 3, among them gross income from the activity under 3.500 UVT in the previous year and in the current one ($ 183.309.000 in 2026, with the UVT at $ 52.374), a single place of business and no single contract of 3.500 UVT or more. A seller who isn't responsible may not add IVA to the price.

This tool doesn't calculate the 8% impuesto nacional al consumo that restaurants and bars charge instead of IVA, and it doesn't tell you which rate a product has: the lists in the Estatuto Tributario go by customs tariff code, so check the article or ask an accountant.

FAQ

How do I take 19% IVA out of a price?

Divide it by 1,19 for the base and subtract the base for the IVA: `$ 59.500` is `$ 50.000` of base and `$ 9.500` of IVA; at 5%, divide by 1,05. The tool does both steps when you choose "Price with IVA included".

Which products pay 5% IVA?

The goods listed in ET art. 468-1 by customs tariff code, among them coffee, wheat flour, sugar, pasta, table chocolate, animal feed, some farm machinery, electric and hybrid vehicles and bicycles worth more than 50 UVT, and the services in art. 468-3, such as prepaid medicine plans and agricultural insurance.

What is the difference between exempt and excluded?

Neither adds IVA to the price. The seller of an exempt good (ET arts. 477 and 481, taxed at 0%) can deduct and recover the IVA on its purchases; the seller of an excluded one (ET arts. 424 and 476) can't, so that IVA becomes a cost.

Does a restaurant bill include IVA?

Usually not. Restaurants, cafés, bakeries, ice-cream parlours and bars sell under the impuesto nacional al consumo of 8% instead of IVA (ET arts. 426, 512-9 and 512-11), unless they operate a franchise, which charges IVA. The tip is voluntary and isn't part of that tax's base.

Does a freelancer have to charge IVA?

Only if responsible for it. A person who provides services isn't responsible while meeting every condition of ET art. 437 par. 3, such as income under 3.500 UVT (`$ 183.309.000` in 2026) in the previous and the current year and no contract of 3.500 UVT or more; the limit is 4.000 UVT (`$ 209.496.000`) when the income comes from contracts with the State (par. 5). Services the law excludes (ET art. 476) carry no IVA whoever provides them.

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