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Should I really pay a "Columbia Resident Exit Tax"?

Should I really pay a "Columbia Resident Exit Tax"?

Old Dec 15, 2014, 11:50 pm
  #31  
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Originally Posted by coolcoil

My point is that UA cannot "know" that the OP never entered the country and therefore does not need the form.
But my point was that OP is at the gate. At which point he has either been checked at check in, or he is in transit. Had he entered the country he would have been checked on the way out.

Now were he to be lingering around at the gate for more than 60 days that might be another question altogether
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Old Dec 16, 2014, 6:47 am
  #32  
 
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Originally Posted by JohnnyColombia
But my point was that OP is at the gate. At which point he has either been checked at check in, or he is in transit. Had he entered the country he would have been checked on the way out.

Now were he to be lingering around at the gate for more than 60 days that might be another question altogether
Wow, were putting in a lot of time arguing a point that applies to neither of us!

The OP, in my estimation, was actually in neither of those states you describe, but an unusual one that could be called "Returning to original destination without entering the country." Besides mileage runners, another type of person who could be in that state would be somebody who was refused entry at immigration. In the latter case though, the UA office at the airport an would have notice they have an unusual situation to handle. The OP's unusual situation hit them without notice.

UA does things I don't like, but I just cannot agree that in this case they should be castigated for their handling of an unusual situation that sprang up with no notice.
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Old Dec 16, 2014, 12:03 pm
  #33  
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Should I really pay a "Columbia Resident Exit Tax"?

But what is the difference between the OP being on his way back to his own country and being in the way to EZE, LIM etc.

Are you saying that he booked an open jaw with BOG as the destination and that is the difference? On that basis he is not in transit?

He was still asked to pay a residents' exit fee from a country where he is not a resident of and never entered. Why is it so hard for UA to not realise that?
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Old Dec 16, 2014, 7:50 pm
  #34  
 
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With UA the fee is always included, one can get the exemption paper and stamp if they want.

I sometimes like to book UA awards with 24 hour layovers to visit cities I like over the weekend, and just had one with an overnight at BOG. It was the first time in 10 or so trips through Colombia it didn't automatically add the 35$ for the exit tax. No one said anything, and I didn't care. Maybe their system is changing or something and isn't automatically adding it in.
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Old Dec 17, 2014, 5:14 am
  #35  
 
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Originally Posted by JohnnyColombia
But what is the difference between the OP being on his way back to his own country and being in the way to EZE, LIM etc.
I finally found the proof that the OP was not in transit per Colombian government rules. Here is a link to a document from Aeronautica Civil called "Unificacion de Procedimientos de Tarifas." It defines what an airline has to do to document the collection of taxes.

Link to document here

Scroll down to Articulo Octavo, Paragrafo Cuarto (about halfway through the document) and you will see that the definition of a passenger in transit includes the requirement that their destination be different than their origin.

So, per the rules, UA must have an exemption form for the passenger or collect the taxes. At worst, UA could be blamed for not notifying passengers that if they are returning to the same destination they must enter Colombia and go through the exemption process.

Believe me, my sympathies are with the OP. I would have made the same assumptions they did and found myself in the same situation.

Originally Posted by JohnnyColombia
Are you saying that he booked an open jaw with BOG as the destination and that is the difference? On that basis he is not in transit?
I'm not sure why the question about the open jaw. Are you confusing the poster who had this problem with the one who previously posted about flying EWR-BOG-IAH to whom you had replied? The poster that had the problem stated that they were doing a turnaround, which meant they returned to their point of origin.

Last edited by coolcoil; Dec 17, 2014 at 11:28 am
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Old Dec 17, 2014, 11:34 am
  #36  
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This is interesting coolcoil, shall we carry on talking about it for a few weeks or stop now?

Yes I am sure I had got the OJ mixed up with the turnaround, thanks for the link
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Old Dec 18, 2014, 4:18 am
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Originally Posted by JohnnyColombia
This is interesting coolcoil, shall we carry on talking about it for a few weeks or stop now?
^
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Old Mar 9, 2015, 1:42 pm
  #38  
 
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Does this mean the new tax is now $85?!

http://www.aerocivil.gov.co/Aerodrom...ortuarios.aspx
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Old Mar 9, 2015, 1:52 pm
  #39  
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Originally Posted by TravelinSperry
Does this mean the new tax is now $85?!

http://www.aerocivil.gov.co/Aerodrom...ortuarios.aspx
To avoid alarm, this thread is about the Colombian resident exit tax and the link you posted states

Imp. Timbre salida del pas (USD) 35,00

If your point is that the airport tax according to that link states that it is $86 from BAQ then yes, that appears to be the case
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Old Mar 10, 2015, 1:21 pm
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Originally Posted by JohnnyColombia
To avoid alarm, this thread is about the Colombian resident exit tax and the link you posted states

Imp. Timbre salida del pas (USD) 35,00

If your point is that the airport tax according to that link states that it is $86 from BAQ then yes, that appears to be the case
Ahhh, I apologize. I misunderstood that this is for Colombian residents only. Do foreigners pay any exit tax? (Sorry my Spanish is pretty bad and it's hard to read these things sometimes).
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Old Mar 10, 2015, 1:28 pm
  #41  
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Originally Posted by TravelinSperry
Ahhh, I apologize. I misunderstood that this is for Colombian residents only. Do foreigners pay any exit tax? (Sorry my Spanish is pretty bad and it's hard to read these things sometimes).
Hi TravelinSperry

The whole point of this thread is whether or not foreigners have to pay the Colombian exit tax. So the $35 tax might have to be paid as a foreigner depending on their circumstances.

The $86 airport tax would certainly have to be paid by everyone and that is certainly somewhat outlandish as you point out.

If you ascertain that you do not need to pay the residents' exit tax then that is the chunk of tax that you would have to pay
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Old Mar 11, 2015, 3:52 am
  #42  
 
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Originally Posted by JohnnyColombia
The $86 airport tax would certainly have to be paid by everyone and that is certainly somewhat outlandish as you point out.
After I saw this, I was concerned that this meant airport tax was to be increased all over Colombia. I did checked out some flights on AA in June to see what's going on, and it seems that that the higher tax did not apply to MDE or BOG. Flights from MDE and BOG were showing $37.00 airport tax while BAQ was $71.00.

I had assumed that the discrepancy from $86 is because of the change in the USD/COP price, but it could be for other reasons. I did see a document on the aerocivil site from which I inferred that different airlines may pay different taxes.

I did check RT's originating in both the USA and Colombia, and all of the other expected taxes were there as appropriate.
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Old Mar 13, 2015, 10:40 am
  #43  
 
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I only ever had to pay this once, to be honest I still don't know what I'm doing, I just do what they say. One of my first times in Colombia flying AV they made me pay in cash. I wonder if it depends on who you pay? IE: If I buy a ticket from Avianca, especially if I use the Colombian site to save money, maybe they'll automatically include it. I can't say I've ever bought an INTL ticket that way, but I buy my domestic ones like that every time. My entry/exit from the country is usually on UA/AC/CM and I haven't had it included.

Every time since I get sent to the desk to get the exemption stamp, but I've also never been refunded anything and just checking my award booking for Dec, I haven't been charged the resident tax. But my god the other taxes on this thing are a bit much. Canadians now pay reciprocity of $80-85 roughly as well so in addition to that they ding me $60.50 for Colombia International Airport Tax and $19.10 for "Columbia" tourism tax, not sure how they manage to spell it wrong on the line after they spell it correctly. So basically $160 CAD every time I visit! But I'm screwed since it's my favorite country lol, guess I'll just keep handing it over.
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Old Mar 14, 2015, 4:51 am
  #44  
 
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Originally Posted by drvannostren
I only ever had to pay this once, to be honest I still don't know what I'm doing, I just do what they say. One of my first times in Colombia flying AV they made me pay in cash. I wonder if it depends on who you pay? IE: If I buy a ticket from Avianca, especially if I use the Colombian site to save money, maybe they'll automatically include it. I can't say I've ever bought an INTL ticket that way, but I buy my domestic ones like that every time. My entry/exit from the country is usually on UA/AC/CM and I haven't had it included.
Just to clarify once more for anybody who might still be confused:

If you are not a Colombian citizen or visa-holding resident AND you have not been in the country for more than 60 days you do not pay the resident exit tax. However, you will be charged a USD $15.00 tourist tax which will be included in your fare.

Typically, if your round trip does not originate in Colombia, airlines do not add the resident exit tax to your fare. However, you still must get the exemption stamp, but you are not entitled to any refund since you did not pay anything in the first place.

The only exception to the requirement to get the exemption stamp is if you are in transition on an international itinerary and in the country less than 24 hours. International itinerary means that you are not returning to where originated. So, for example, if you fly JFK-BOG-JFK you must enter the country through immigration, get the exemption stamp, and check in again.

If your international trip originates in Colombia, the airline will typically charge the resident exit tax in your fare, but you are entitled to a refund after you obtain the exemption stamp. This again only applies if you are not a citizen/resident and have not been in the country for 60 days. In the example above, AV should have charged the fee when ticketed, but refunded it. You might find yourself in this situation if, for example, you purchased a one-way ticket to Colombia and you have a separate one-way return. Or, if while you are in Colombia, you choose to make a quick side trip to a neighboring country.

A case where a non-citizen/resident would have to pay the tax separately from the fare at check in would be if your round trip originated outside of Colombia, but you stayed in the country for more than 60 days.

The international airport tax is a different tax that is paid by everybody and included in the fare. As far as I can tell, that tax varies depending on the airport and the airline.
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Old Mar 30, 2015, 8:44 am
  #45  
 
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Does Anyone know if UA includes the departure tax in the ticket? Or it is automatically excluded for reservations <60 days?
Thanks.
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