Do I Have to Pay US Taxes If I Live in Medellín?

You moved to Medellín for the weather, the cost of living, or just a change of pace — and now tax season is creeping up and you're not sure what you still owe the IRS. Maybe someone at a rooftop happy hour in El Poblado told you expats stop owing US taxes once they've been gone long enough. They were wrong, and believing it can get expensive. Here's the direct answer — and what living in Medellín does and doesn't change — from an Enrolled Agent who works with US expats here every week.

The Short Answer: Yes — and It's Not About Where You Live

If you're a US citizen or green card holder, the IRS taxes your worldwide income no matter which country you sleep in tonight. This is citizenship-based taxation, and the US is one of the only countries that works this way — most countries tax residents, not citizens. You could be paying rent in Laureles or working remotely from El Poblado, and the IRS still expects a return every year on income earned anywhere on the planet.

A lot of people who move to Medellín pick up a rumor along the way: that enough time abroad, or filing Colombian taxes, cancels the US obligation. It doesn't. Your passport is the trigger, not your mailing address.

Your Deadline Actually Does Move — A Little

Americans living abroad get an automatic two-month filing extension — from April 15 to June 15 — with no form required. It applies automatically to anyone whose tax home and residence are outside the US on the regular due date.

The catch: if you owe money, interest still accrues from April 15, not June 15. So the extension buys filing time, not payment time. Many expats living on local income owe little or nothing federally once the relief below is applied correctly — but that depends on your specific facts, and it's worth confirming rather than assuming.

You're Probably Not Being Taxed Twice — If You Use the Right Tool

The US built two main relief mechanisms so citizens abroad aren't paying full tax twice on the same income.

Foreign Earned Income Exclusion (Form 2555) excludes a set amount of foreign-earned income from US tax each year; the exact amount adjusts annually.

Foreign Tax Credit (Form 1116) gives you a dollar-for-dollar credit against US tax for foreign income tax you've already paid on that same income.

Which one saves you more depends on your income mix — earned versus investment income, how much Colombian tax you're paying, and other variables. There's no universal right answer, and picking the wrong one, or filing neither, is a common, avoidable mistake. Worth knowing: the US and Colombia don't have an income tax treaty, so it's the Foreign Tax Credit — not a treaty — that typically prevents double taxation on Colombia-sourced income.

FBAR and FATCA: Two More Acronyms, Two Separate Deadlines

A Bancolombia account or any other foreign financial account can trigger two more reporting duties on top of your income tax return:

• FBAR (FinCEN Form 114) — required if your combined foreign account balances topped $10,000 at any point in the year, even for one day. Filed with FinCEN, not the IRS, via BSA e-filing; due April 15, with an automatic extension to October 15.

• FATCA (Form 8938) — attached to your 1040, with its own higher thresholds for people abroad: generally over $200,000 in specified foreign assets on the last day of the year, or over $300,000 at any point during the year, for single filers (double for joint filers).

Two different filings, two rule sets, and neither is optional once you're over the threshold. More on what your bank actually reports in a separate post.

Colombia's 183-Day Rule Is a Completely Different System

Colombia has its own residency test: spend more than 183 days in the country within any 365-day period, and DIAN (Colombia's tax authority) may consider you a Colombian tax resident — a real trigger with real consequences on that side.

What it doesn't do is cancel your US filing requirement. Colombia taxes based on presence; the US taxes based on citizenship. You can end up with obligations to both, which is why we coordinate the two sides rather than treating them separately: Colombian filings are prepared by our licensed Colombian accounting partner, and we make sure the Foreign Tax Credit or FEIE math lines up on the US side so nothing gets taxed twice.

Don't Forget the State You Left

Moving to Medellín doesn't automatically end your obligations to the state you used to call home. California and New York, in particular, are known for continuing to tax former residents abroad unless you can show you genuinely broke domicile — not just moved, but cut the deeper ties (voter registration, driver's license, property, banking, family location) that make a state consider you still "theirs." It's a separate legal question from your federal return, and one most expat tax content skips entirely. If you kept a state address for convenience, or have a state notice sitting in a drawer, that's worth a dedicated look.

Where This Leaves You

None of this is meant to be alarming — it's meant to be clear. Worldwide taxation, the June 15 extension, FEIE vs. FTC, FBAR/FATCA, Colombia's own residency rules, and lingering state exposure are pieces of the same puzzle. For many people in Medellín, once it's set up correctly, it becomes a routine annual filing rather than a recurring worry.

I'm Sabih Shafi, an Enrolled Agent — licensed by the U.S. Treasury — and I built All State Tax Resolution to handle exactly this kind of full-picture situation: US federal prep and IRS representation under Form 2848, the state-residency angle most firms don't touch, and a coordinated Colombian side through our licensed Colombian accounting partner — all under one roof.

Want the short version on hand? Grab our free Medellín Expat US Tax Checklist below — it lines up US and Colombian deadlines side by side and flags the state-residency red flags worth checking before they become a notice.

Related Reading

• The complete guide to US taxes for Americans in Medellín

• What your Bancolombia account actually reports to FinCEN

• Behind on filing? How Streamlined catch-up works for expats

• Why there's no US-Colombia tax treaty (and what fills the gap)

• Is California still taxing you while you live in Medellín?

• Married to a Colombian citizen? Getting an ITIN without mailing your passport

Frequently Asked Questions

I haven't filed a US return since I moved to Medellín. Am I in serious trouble?

Not filing doesn't erase the requirement, but it also isn't automatically catastrophic — for those who qualify, there's a structured catch-up path (Streamlined Filing) built for exactly this situation. Whether you qualify and what it looks like in practice depends on your specific facts, so it's worth a review rather than continuing to guess or avoid it.

Do I have to pay tax to both the US and Colombia on the same income?

Generally, no — not on the same dollar twice. The Foreign Earned Income Exclusion and Foreign Tax Credit both exist to prevent that, which matters since the US and Colombia don't have a tax treaty to handle it automatically. Which mechanism helps more, and by how much, depends on your income mix and what you're already paying on the Colombian side through our accounting partner.

I haven't lived in California (or New York) in years. Why would they still tax me?

Some states look at "domicile," not just where you currently live, and California and New York are known for continuing to treat former residents as taxable until you can show you truly cut ties — not just moved abroad. If you still hold a driver's license, voter registration, or property there, it may be worth a specific look at whether that state could still have a claim on you.

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