Asset Protection Against DIAN Garnishments:
plan ahead, with a real purpose, and defend well afterwards, with the reference tax-law firm in Colombia.

Among others: savings deposits up to the amount set by the competent authority (except for child-support claims); salaries and social benefits in the proportion provided by the relevant laws; television, radio, personal computer, personal communication devices, kitchen utensils, refrigerator and furniture needed for the family's subsistence or individual work (except high-value luxury goods or the purchase-price credit of the item); strictly personal rights; and rights of use and habitation. The article's paragraph requires officials to refrain from attaching unattachable resources and, if they proceed by exception, to cite the legal basis.

Yes. Article 838 of the Tax Statute provides that the value of garnished assets may not exceed twice the debt plus interest. If the appraisal exceeds that limit, the garnishment must be reduced, ex officio or upon request. Supporting the request requires precisely quantifying the debt, the interest and the value of the assets.

It depends on the case. First we verify whether the assets or accounts are exempt and whether there is excess garnishment. Then the exceptions against the payment order are analyzed. Under Article 837-1 of the Tax Statute, garnished funds remain frozen until the lawsuit is admitted or the debtor guarantees 100% of the amount in dispute with a bank or insurance-company bond; release is then ordered, provided the bond is accepted. A payment facility with the DIAN may also be assessed. The specific strategy depends on the facts and the evidence.

It depends on timing and cause. Setting up a company, a holding, a commercial trust, a family estate or a family-housing designation in accordance with the law, in time, with a real cause and purpose, separate accounting and market values, is legitimate planning. Transferring assets once a debt or proceeding is already underway is different: creditors may seek revocation of the act through the actio pauliana (Article 2491 of the Civil Code), an apparent transfer may be declared simulated and, if there is fraud to harm the creditor, the crime of alzamiento de bienes (Article 253 of the Penal Code) may arise. Each case requires an individual analysis.

Under Article 2491 of the Civil Code, creditors may seek rescission of onerous contracts, mortgages, pledges and antichresis granted by the debtor to their detriment where both parties acted in bad faith, that is, knowing the poor state of the debtor's business. Gratuitous acts may be rescinded by proving the debtor's bad faith and the harm. These actions expire one year after the act or contract.

Article 253 of the Penal Code (alzamiento de bienes) punishes anyone who removes or conceals assets or commits any other fraud to harm a creditor with 16 to 54 months of imprisonment and a fine of 13.33 to 300 SMMLV. Article 454 of the Penal Code (fraud against a judicial or administrative police resolution) provides 1 to 4 years of imprisonment and a fine of 5 to 50 SMMLV. Administratively, the DIAN may declare insolvent a debtor who transferred assets to evade collection (Article 671-1 of the Tax Statute), with effects such as disqualification from engaging in commerce, lifted upon payment. That is why planning must be done in advance and lawfully.

Ligal is the reference tax-law firm in Colombia. Under the direction of Juan Santiago Rodríguez Prieto, tax lawyer and former DIAN official, together with Jeysson Pulido and LIGAL Auditores (certified public accountants, Law 43 of 1990), we review what is exempt, excess garnishment, exceptions and routes to release, and assess the asset planning the law permits, stating clearly its limits and risks. Ligal also handles criminal tax defense end to end. Our work is backed by 5.0 / 5 on Google with 35 reviews: https://share.google/VVzMvULrOj8Mj52Au. The firm works real cases of audit, enforced collection and tax litigation: in a verified Google review, client Julian Rodriguez says that, thanks to the representation before the DIAN, "logramos el archivo de un litigio tributario que teníamos en contra de mi empresa" (we achieved the dismissal of a tax litigation that had been brought against my company).