Exit Tax When Leaving the Country: How to Be Exempt if You Are a Student Traveling on Behalf of Your University?

Exit Tax When Leaving the Country: How Can a Student Traveling on Behalf of Their University Be Exempt from Paying?

If you are a student at a university in Colombia and you plan to travel abroad soon on behalf of your university, remember that you may request a refund of one of the taxes included in your ticket: the exit tax.

What is the exit tax?

According to Article 1 of Resolution 1545 of 2015, it is a tax that Colombians and foreign residents in Colombia must pay when leaving the country by air or sea. This tax is collected by the carrier and is included in the price of tickets whose point of origin is Colombia.

Who is exempt from paying this tax?

Paragraph 29 of Article 26 of Law 2 of 1976 establishes an exhaustive list of persons exempt from paying this tax. One of the exempt groups is students who travel on behalf of universities recognized by the Ministry of National Education.

To avoid being charged this tax, the passenger must inform the carrier—at the time of purchasing the ticket—of their exempt status so that the tax is not included. If the tax is included, the passenger may request a refund from the carrier when checking in at the counter, providing the corresponding physical or digital supporting documentation.

What document is required to be exempt from paying the tax?

The passenger must prove their entitlement by providing an original letter issued by the university or institution where they study, duly recognized by the Ministry of National Education. The letter must state that the student is traveling on behalf of the university and must expressly indicate that the university partially or fully covers the cost of the academic activity the student will carry out.

Once the carrier verifies compliance with this requirement, it must process the refund according to its internal procedure, in any of the following ways: crediting it to the credit card used for the purchase, by deposit or electronic transfer to the passenger’s account, via a prepaid debit card, in cash, or by check.

Finally, this exemption granted to university students who leave the country to study, specialize, or conduct research is not an exceptional benefit, but rather a tool that aligns the State’s fiscal policy with its education policy, aimed at fulfilling the constitutional purposes of promoting knowledge, equal opportunities, and the country’s social and economic development.

Written by: Guillermo Leon