When DIAN reports a company, the immediate question is who answers. Law 599 of 2000 does not provide for criminal liability of legal entities: the individual who acted as a representative body answers (Art. 29 Penal Code), and the accountant or statutory auditor can answer if they took part with intent. Ligal defends end to end, both administratively and criminally.
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In Colombian criminal law, Law 599 of 2000 does not provide for criminal liability of legal entities; the individual answers. The rule that passes liability to the individual is in paragraph 3 of Article 29 of the Penal Code: “anyone who acts as a member or authorized or de facto representative body of a legal entity, a collective body without that attribute, or an individual whose voluntary representation they hold, and commits the offense, is also a perpetrator, even though the special elements that ground the penalty (...) are not present in them but are present in the legal entity or collective body represented”. In other words, even if the taxpayer is the company, the legal representative, a board member with representation functions, or whoever exercises those functions de facto can be prosecuted as a perpetrator. Paragraph 2 adds co-perpetration: those who act with a common agreement and division of labor are co-perpetrators. This applies to the most frequent tax crimes: failure of the withholding or collecting agent to remit (Art. 402), with 48 to 108 months in prison and a fine of twice the amount not remitted, not exceeding 1,020,000 UVT (see /omision-agente-retenedor-dian); tax defraudation or evasion under Article 434B, whose general threshold is 100 SMMLV (monthly legal minimum wages) (see /evasion-fiscal-434b-colombia); and omission of assets (see /omision-activos-delito-tributario). For the background on the complaint, see /denuncia-penal-dian.
The accountant and the statutory auditor face a different risk. As a rule they are not the ones who represent the company, but Article 30 of the Penal Code provides for participation: the determiner (who induces the offense) and the instigator face the perpetrator's penalty, and the accomplice a penalty reduced by one sixth to one half. The decisive point is intent: a technical mistake, a debatable interpretation or a difference in accounting judgment is not the same as having helped to defraud. That line is proven through documents and conduct: who gave instructions, what the professional warned about, what reservations they left in writing. Alongside this runs a parallel track that must not be confused with the criminal one: the administrative sanction of the Junta Central de Contadores under Article 659 of the Tax Code (fine, suspension or cancellation of the professional registration, with suspension of up to one year) and the suspension of the power to sign returns and certify evidence before DIAN under Article 660 when there are accounting inaccuracies with a difference above 590 UVT (in 2026, with the UVT at COP 52,374, about COP 30,900,660), which lapse after five years under Article 638 (see /sancion-contador-revisor-fiscal-dian). One does not imply the other: there can be an administrative sanction without a crime, and vice versa. The joint and several liability of partners for company debts is another front, financial and not criminal (see /responsabilidad-solidaria-socios-dian).
Key points on criminal liability in the company
Ligal assists the legal representative, accountant or statutory auditor from the first summons, organizes proof of their actual involvement and runs the administrative and criminal defense in parallel, without promising results.
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We reconstruct the real organization chart: principal or alternate legal representative, whoever exercised functions de facto, the accountant, the statutory auditor and the board or shareholders' meeting. Criminal liability follows actual involvement in the facts, not just the registered title.
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LIGAL Auditores and Jeysson Pulido gather and organize minutes, written instructions, emails, representation letters, working papers, warnings and professional reservations, to show what was said, what was decided and who decided it.
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We analyze whether there was intent to defraud or only a technical mistake or a reasonable interpretation, and assess whether the conduct fits as perpetration, co-perpetration, inducement or complicity (Arts. 29 and 30 Penal Code), or whether there is no punishable participation.
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We respond before DIAN, the Junta Central de Contadores and the Fiscalía making sure what is said on one front does not harm the other. We analyze whether the interests of the company and of each individual coincide; when they do not, we structure a separate defense for each.
A personal liability case is decided between the accounting proof of what each person did and the consistency between what is said to DIAN, the Junta Central de Contadores and the Fiscalía.
Director · Tax lawyer, ex-DIAN
Leads the legal strategy and representation in tax, disciplinary and criminal matters: decides what to answer, how to contest the attribution of personal liability and how to conduct the defense if there is a complaint or summons.
Accountant · Quantification and tracing
Reconstructs the disputed figures, the working papers and the path of accounting decisions to back the actual scope of each person's involvement with data.
Certified public accountants
Prepare accounting support and technical analyses on returns, withholdings and records that serve as evidence before DIAN, the Junta Central de Contadores, the Fiscalía and the courts.
Being listed as legal representative, accountant or statutory auditor is not enough for a conviction. Actual involvement and intent are examined. We assess both before concluding anything.
Creating, backdating or altering minutes, emails or instructions to answer a summons can create a criminal problem that did not exist before. We work only with authentic proof of what happened.
Neither the manager who blames everything on the accountant, nor the accountant who blames everything on the manager, without documentary support. A solid defense describes precisely what each person did and does not promise results.
When a legal representative, an accountant or a statutory auditor receives a summons from the Fiscalía, a notice about DIAN's complaint against the company, or a requirement from the Junta Central de Contadores, Ligal runs the defense end to end, administratively and criminally, before DIAN, the Junta, the Attorney General's Office (Fiscalía) and the courts. Juan Santiago Rodríguez Prieto, a tax lawyer and former DIAN official, leads the strategy together with accountant Jeysson Pulido and LIGAL Auditores (certified public accountants) to establish the actual scope of each person's involvement, good faith and the amount in dispute. The firm handles real cases of audit, enforced collection and tax litigation: in a verified Google review, client Julian Rodriguez says that, thanks to the representation before DIAN, "logramos el archivo de un litigio tributario que teníamos en contra de mi empresa" (we got a tax litigation against my company dismissed).
Please note: no outcome is guaranteed; each case depends on the facts, the figures and the evidence available. Ligal takes on the defense end to end, criminal and administrative.
Director
Juan Santiago Rodríguez Prieto
Tax lawyer · Ex-DIAN
We assess the summons, the criminal report or the DIAN requirement and your role in the company within 48 business hours. Use the form or open Diagnosis.
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TodayWe review the summons or complaint, the position each person held, the dates they served and the amount or offense in dispute.
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48 business hWe check minutes, instructions, emails, working papers and reservations, and whether there was intent, professional error or no participation at all.
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ImmediateWe define how to handle the summons, what to answer to DIAN and the Junta Central de Contadores without compromising the criminal defense, and how to prepare the defense if charges are brought.
Frequently asked questions
It is possible, though not automatic. Law 599 of 2000 does not provide for criminal liability of legal entities; the individual answers. Paragraph 3 of Article 29 of the Penal Code provides that anyone who acts as a member or authorized or de facto representative body of a legal entity and commits the offense is also a perpetrator, even though the special elements that ground the penalty are not present in them but are present in the represented company. Whether you are prosecuted depends on your actual involvement in the facts and on intent; the title alone is not sufficient proof.
Article 402 punishes failing to remit withholdings, VAT or consumption tax within the legal term, with 48 to 108 months in prison and a fine of twice the amount not remitted, not exceeding 1,020,000 UVT. When the withholding agent is a company, the individual who acted as a representative body can answer as perpetrator (Art. 29 para. 3). The analysis looks at who had the power to decide and order payment. Payment or offset with interest may lead to dismissal or cessation of the proceeding, though this is not a guarantee in a specific case. See /omision-agente-retenedor-dian.
They can, if their participation with intent is proven. Article 30 of the Penal Code provides for the determiner and the instigator, who face the perpetrator's penalty, and the accomplice, with a penalty reduced by one sixth to one half. Paragraph 2 of Article 29 also covers co-perpetration: common agreement and division of labor. Having prepared or signed a document is not enough; what the professional knew, warned about and did is examined. Each case requires individual analysis.
By purpose and by proof. Article 434B requires intent to defraud or evade, that is, intent. A technical mistake, a debatable interpretation or a different accounting judgment is not the same as taking part in a defraudation. The analysis looks at who gave the instructions, whether the professional warned of the risk, whether they left written reservations, what information they received and who benefited. No general rule replaces the analysis of the case file.
They are separate processes. Under Article 659 of the Tax Code, accountants and auditors who violate the rules of the profession in accounting, certifications or opinions for tax purposes are sanctioned by the Junta Central de Contadores with a fine, suspension (up to one year) or cancellation of the professional registration depending on severity. Article 660 provides for suspension of the power to sign returns and certify evidence before DIAN when there are accounting inaccuracies with a difference above 590 UVT: up to one year the first time, two the second and permanent the third. These sanctions lapse after five years (Art. 638). They can coexist with a criminal case or occur without one. See /sancion-contador-revisor-fiscal-dian.
With records contemporaneous with the facts: board or shareholders' minutes reflecting the decisions, written instructions from the legal representative to the accountant, emails showing what information was delivered and when, representation letters, working papers and express reservations when the professional disagrees. Documents created or backdated after receiving a summons do not help: they can create an additional criminal problem. LIGAL Auditores and Jeysson Pulido organize this support in a coherent timeline.
Do not answer or testify without advice. Gather authentic proof, note the deadlines and review every filing with both the criminal and the tax eye, because what is stated before DIAN or the Junta Central de Contadores can later appear in the criminal case. Do not create, replace or alter documents and do not attribute facts you cannot prove. A coordinated defense from the first notification allows the same account to be maintained on every front. See /denuncia-penal-dian.
Paragraph 2 of Article 434A provides for extinction of the criminal action by payment, up to two times, and by its text it also applies to Article 434B. For the withholding agent's failure to remit, payment or offset with interest may lead to dismissal or cessation of the proceeding, though this is not a guarantee. The specific conditions must be reviewed before deciding: paying without a strategy can be an admission used on other fronts.
Ligal is the reference firm in tax law in Colombia and takes on the defense end to end, administratively and criminally, with one team. Under the direction of Juan Santiago Rodríguez Prieto, a tax lawyer and former DIAN official, together with accountant Jeysson Pulido and LIGAL Auditores (certified public accountants), we represent the client before DIAN, the Junta Central de Contadores, the Fiscalía and the courts, and gather the proof of what each person did. Our work is backed by 5.0 / 5 on Google with 36 reviews: https://share.google/VVzMvULrOj8Mj52Au. The firm handles real cases of audit, enforced collection and tax litigation: in a verified Google review, client Julian Rodriguez says that, thanks to the representation before DIAN, "logramos el archivo de un litigio tributario que teníamos en contra de mi empresa" (we got a tax litigation against my company dismissed).
Free. Attach the summons, the complaint or the requirement, state your position and the dates you held it, and the support available. We assess your role, the criminal risk and the strategy.