You export services from Colombia
Software, design, consulting or marketing billed to U.S. clients: whoever pays you needs Form W-8BEN to apply the right withholding, and that form asks for a taxpayer identification number.
Process Automation
We map the manual work inside your operation, automate it with Power Automate, Excel and AI-driven workflows, and measure the hours it gives back.
- Journal entries, reconciliations and the monthly close
- Invoices, reports and approvals that run themselves
- Built inside the tools you already pay for
- Hours and error rate measured before and after
U.S. Company and Tax
Formation, EIN, ITIN through an IRS-authorized Certifying Acceptance Agent, the company and personal returns, and the bookkeeping underneath them.
U.S. Company FormationITINBusiness Tax ReturnsPersonal Tax ReturnsAccounting and BookkeepingOperating and Tax BlueprintIFRS Financial Statements
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Vetted remote professionals, full time, by deliverable, by the hour or by project. They stay on our payroll, not on yours.
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We turn scattered spreadsheets and systems into SQL data models and Power BI dashboards your team actually uses to make decisions.
- One source everyone reads from
- Dashboards built around decisions, not every metric
- Refreshed on their own, not rebuilt on Mondays
Training and Workshops
Workshops and coaching for finance teams on automation, Power BI and SQL, IFRS and running a U.S. company from abroad, built on your own files.
- In your office, live online or at your event
- Single sessions or packages of four to six
- In Spanish or English, on your own files
ITIN from ColombiaYour ITIN from Colombia, with an IRS-authorized Certifying Acceptance Agent.
If you live in Colombia and have a tax obligation in the United States, the ITIN is the number the IRS will ask you for. Here is what changes when you apply from Colombia: the tax treaty, the documents that work and how the process runs from there.
From Colombia
Three things that depend on living in Colombia.
Tax treaty
There is no U.S. income tax treaty with Colombia.
Without a treaty there are no reduced rates to claim: many U.S.-source payments to nonresidents, such as dividends, carry the general 30% withholding. That makes it more important to file correctly, because a return is often the only way to recover what was withheld in excess or to deduct expenses.
Documents
Your passport, or your cedula with a second document.
A current passport is the only document that works on its own. Your cédula de ciudadanía can count as a national identity card, but only if it shows name, photograph, address, date of birth and expiration date, and that address is where most identity cards fail, so look at yours before assuming it qualifies. Without a passport you need two current documents from the IRS list, and if you claim dependents who live in Colombia, their passport only works on its own if it carries a U.S. entry stamp.
Your tax number
Your RUT does not replace the ITIN.
Your RUT is free, it is managed by the DIAN, it does not expire and you can get it online through MUISCA even from abroad. For an individual the NIT is not a new number: it is your cédula with a check digit added. None of that means anything to the IRS, which keeps its own register. When you have to file in the United States, report U.S. income or sign a U.S. tax form and you cannot get a Social Security number, the number it asks for is the ITIN.
Common situations
When the ITIN shows up if you live in Colombia.
You bought U.S. property to rent out
Rent from U.S. property is U.S.-source income. Reporting it as a connected activity lets you deduct expenses and depreciation instead of being withheld on the gross amount, and to file that return you need an ITIN.
You are selling that property
A sale of U.S. real estate by a foreign person is subject to FIRPTA withholding, and that is one of the five IRS Exceptions: it lets you apply for the ITIN without waiting for filing season, with documentation from the withholding agent.
How it works
From Colombia, without guessing what the IRS wants.
Big Skill Solutions is an IRS-authorized Certifying Acceptance Agent. That lets us verify your identity documents and certify the application ourselves, instead of you mailing your originals to the IRS and waiting for them to come back.
We tell you the exact rule, because it matters from abroad: the interview can be done by video call, but the documents cannot be checked on a screen. We have to receive and examine your originals, or copies certified by the agency that issued them, by an embassy or consulate of your country, or by a U.S. embassy or consulate. Before you send anything, we agree with you how they reach us and how they come back.
From Colombia the routes are three: the agency that issued the document, which is the Registraduría for the cédula and the Cancillería for the passport; a Colombian consulate; or a U.S. embassy or consulate. The U.S. Embassy in Bogotá does notarial services for the public by appointment only, on Tuesdays and Thursdays, at 50 dollars per seal. Book it before you need it, because those slots go quickly.
- ✓We check your case firstThe questionnaire tells you whether you need a return and which W-7 reason applies, before you spend anything.
- ✓Video interviewIn Spanish or in English, at a time that works from where you are.
- ✓A complete fileIncomplete documentation is the most common reason for rejection. We review everything before filing.
- ✓And the tax return, if one is neededWe are also an IRS Registered Tax Preparer: the W-7 and the return go out together.
Questionnaire
Which case is yours?
Five questions. We tell you which Form W-7 reason applies, whether you need to file a return, and which documents you will be asked for. At the end you can request a quote for your specific case.
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Frequently asked questions
What people in Colombia ask us.
My RUT is up to date. Is that not enough for the IRS?
No. The RUT identifies you before the DIAN and the two registers are not connected. A U.S. payer cannot use it, and no IRS form accepts it. Keeping your RUT current is still the right thing to do for Colombia: the two numbers coexist, each for its own country.
Do I have to travel to the United States to get an ITIN from Colombia?
No. The interview with a Certifying Acceptance Agent can be done by video call. What the rules do require is that the agent receives and examines your original documents, or copies certified by the issuing agency, by an embassy or consulate of your country, or by a U.S. embassy or consulate.
Can I use my RUT instead of an ITIN?
No. Your RUT only works before DIAN. For the IRS you need a U.S. number: a Social Security number if you are eligible for one, and the ITIN if you are not.
If there is no treaty with Colombia, do I pay tax twice?
Not automatically. Without a treaty, relief usually depends on the rules of Colombia itself, such as credits for tax paid abroad. On the U.S. side, filing a correct return is what lets you deduct expenses and recover excess withholding. Talk to your local accountant about the Colombia side; we handle the U.S. side.
Does an ITIN give me a work permit or immigration status?
No. An ITIN exists solely to meet tax obligations with the IRS. It does not authorize work, it grants no immigration status, and it carries no entitlement to Social Security benefits.
Is a tax return always required?
That is the general rule: Form W-7 is filed attached to a federal return. The only exceptions are the five IRS Exceptions, and each one requires specific documentation from a third party, such as a bank, a lender or a withholding agent.
The five Exceptions, the 13 documents the IRS accepts and the rest of the rules are in the complete guide: ITIN, explained
Would you rather we looked at it with you?
We work Monday to Friday, 8:00 to 17:00 Panama time, which is the same time in Bogota.