Tax Benefits for CTeI (Beneficios Tributarios CTeI)

Tax Benefits for CTeI (Beneficios Tributarios CTeI)

Offers Colombian firms tax support pathways encouraging private research and innovation investment.

⚠ This may reflect a past cycle — verify the current call on the funder's site.

The Beneficios Tributarios CTeI program is administered annually by MinCiencias through the National Council of Tax Benefits in CTeI (CNBT), which MinCiencias chairs. The 2025 cycle was governed by Acuerdo 38 de 2025 and ran from 8 August to 10 September 2025. The program provides four distinct non-cash fiscal instruments to Colombian entities that invest in classified R&D&I projects: a 30% income-tax deduction on qualified CTeI investment (capped at 30% of total tax liability in the same year, with excess carrying forward to up to four future returns); a 50% tax credit certificate (crédito fiscal) available exclusively to MiPymes (small and medium enterprises), usable against any national tax or convertible into TIDIS treasury return titles; remuneration exemptions allowing companies to declare scientific personnel salaries as non-taxable income; and a VAT exemption on equipment imports specifically for universities and recognized research and technology development centers.

Eligibility for the deduction and credit instruments requires the company to engage a GrupLAC-registered research group or a recognized CDT (Centro de Desarrollo Tecnológico), and the specific project must be formally classified as I+D+i before the annual claim window opens. The classification step is procedurally separate from the filing window. Large companies access the 30% deduction route; only MiPymes are eligible for the 50% crédito fiscal certificate. Universities that qualify as IES (instituciones de educación superior) can access the VAT import exemption.

The 2025 cycle closed on 10 September 2025 and is no longer available. The 2026 cycle is expected to open approximately August–September 2026, following the CNBT's annual session cadence, though exact dates had not been published at the time of research. Private-sector companies investing in R&D in Colombia should treat this program as a foundational annual filing, complementary to cash grant calls such as iNNpulsa or Bancóldex credit lines, and begin the I+D+i project classification process well before the filing window opens.