Jonathan Malagón, president of Asobancaria, stated that fiscal constraints limit the elimination of the 4x1.000 tax between 2026 and 2030. He proposed a ten-year plan to phase it out point by point, without taxing immediate payments. He also highlighted the role of re-banking to raise credit access to 75%.
At the Asobancaria Camp, Jonathan Malagón, its president, discussed challenges in Colombia's financial system. He pointed to the 4x1.000 tax as a barrier hindering financial inclusion by adding costs to formal channels.
Malagón acknowledged that the current fiscal situation offers little room to eliminate this tax between 2026 and 2030. Instead, he suggested a gradual approach: avoid taxing immediate payments and dismantle the tax by one point annually over ten years. "What can happen is a signal of progressive dismantling, but thinking that a government taxes immediate payments and then dismantles one point annually sends a definitive signal to the industry," he explained. He added: “Taxes on payments through the financial system will always be a dead end; the extra cost of using formal financial channels is a dead end.”
Another focus of his speech was re-banking. Currently, 50% to 51% of Colombians have access to credit, with an ambitious target of 75%, requiring eight to nine million more people. Malagón estimated an eight-million potential in re-banking: recovering half of those who previously had financial products would achieve half the inclusion goal. “The potential of re-banking is eight million; if we re-bank half of the Colombians who already had financial products and know the sector's dynamics, who have been evaluated, if we bring back half, then half of the financial inclusion target is met,” he emphasized.
