DIAN creates special committees to settle tax and customs litigation

The National Directorate of Taxes and Customs (DIAN) created the special committees that will process requests for contentious-administrative conciliation in tax, customs, and foreign exchange matters. This was done through Resolution number 000036 of 2026, signed on November 10, 2026, by Director General Andrés Felipe Velásquez Reyes and published in Official Gazette number 53,687 on Wednesday, November 11, 2026. The regulation establishes the composition of these bodies, their competencies, and the internal procedure for submitting, studying, and deciding each request.

The resolution implements Article 11 of Legislative Decree 1419 of September 17, 2026, published in Official Gazette number 53,630, which empowered the DIAN to conciliate contentious-administrative processes and ordered the creation of the committees via a resolution from the Director General. The draft resolution was published for comments on the entity’s website between October 21 and 26, 2026.

One committee for Large Taxpayers and one for each sectional office

Article 1 creates two levels of committees, with members defined by position:

• Special Conciliation Committee of the Large Taxpayers Operational Directorate: the Operational Director; the Operational Subdirector of Audit and Assessment; the Operational Subdirector of International Audit and Assessment; the Operational Legal Subdirector; and the Operational Subdirector of Service, Collection, Recovery, and Refunds.
• Committees of the Sectional Directorates of Taxes, Customs, and Taxes and Customs: the Sectional Director and the heads of the divisions of extensive, intensive, legal entity, and natural person tax audit and assessment; customs; foreign exchange; sanctions; determination of taxes and customs duties; legal; collection; and recovery, as they exist in each internal structure.

All members have a voice and a vote, and decisions are adopted by simple majority. The committees appoint a technical secretary, who may be an official other than its members and participates with a voice but without a vote.

Who decides each process

The special committees decide on requests for contentious-administrative processes whose judicial representation is the responsibility of the respective Sectional Directorate or the Large Taxpayers Operational Directorate. The Conciliation and Judicial Defense Committee of the DIAN retains jurisdiction over processes whose representation is handled by the Subdirectorate of External Representation.

In the delegated Sectional Directorates of Taxes and Customs, the procedure corresponds to the committee of the section to which they are assigned and, when Large Taxpayers are involved, Article 63 of Decree number 1742 of 2020 applies. The minutes resulting in the conciliation must be presented before the administrative judge or the contentious-administrative corporation within ten (10) business days following their signing, and the judgment or order approving it shall provide executive merit and shall have the effect of res judicata.

Filing, certifications, and internal deadlines

Requests are submitted in writing to the Conciliation and Judicial Defense Committee or to the competent special committee and are filed at the Correspondence and Notifications Coordination of the Administrative Sub-directorate, in the Operational Directorate of Large Taxpayers, or in the competent Sectional Directorate. If they are filed in a department without jurisdiction, they must be forwarded within the following two (2) business days and the applicant must be informed.

The certification regarding penalties, interest, credit balances, and paid amounts corresponds to the Operational Sub-director of Service, Collection, Recovery, and Refunds, to the Sectional Directors, and to the heads of the collection divisions, and must be issued within five (5) business days following the filing. If the interested party does not remedy the inconsistencies within the month following the communication, the withdrawal provided for in Article 17 of the Code of Administrative Procedure and Contentious Administrative Matters shall apply.

Against the decisions of the Conciliation and Judicial Defense Committee, only the motion for reconsideration (recurso de reposición) is applicable; against those of the special committees, both reconsideration and appeal are applicable, the latter before the Judicial Defense and Conciliation Committee of the DIAN.

Requirements and validity

The benefit of Legislative Decree 1419 of 2026 requires that the lawsuit has been filed before August 10, 2026, that it has been admitted before the request, that there is no final judgment, proof of payment of the 2025 private liquidation, and that the petition be filed by November 19, 2026. Conciliation applies to 85% of penalties, updates, and interest in the sole or first instance; 80% in the second instance or in penalties without disputed tax, and 70% in improper refunds or offsets.

The resolution takes effect from the business day following its publication in the Official Gazette (Diario Oficial), pursuant to Article 65 of Law 1437 of 2011, and its Article 10 orders its publication in that medium. Article 9 charges the Sectional Directors, the Operational Director of Large Taxpayers, and the Sub-director of External Representation with socializing the benefit and identifying the nullity and restoration of rights processes that could apply.

The regulation opens a short window for companies and customs and exchange users with pending claims to settle their disputes with the DIAN: those wishing to apply must file the request before November 19, 2026, and the decision must be adopted within the month following the submission.

Source: Official Gazette, 53,687, November 11, 2026, section I (Special Administrative Units – National Directorate of Taxes and Customs), p. 28 (official reference: Resolution number 000036 of 2026).