In Colombia, more expensive high-end cell phones are purchased

More and more smartphone users on the planet. According to Gartner, 2,280 million units of these devices were sold last year and 2,326 million are expected to be sold in 2018. Colombia is not excluded from this phenomenon, there are There are more and more options that buyers need to acquire their device according to their scope, but local rates are among the highest in the region.

Despite the economic easing that the 2017 tax reform brought to the telephony sector Colombia is the sixth Latin American nation to pay more taxes by buying high-end smartphones and to activate according to a report of the organization Gsma last year.

In the country, there is no VAT fee on devices that are less than $ 700,000, however, consumers must pay 4% and 5% for service activation by general taxes, VAT for the purchase of a SIM card and taxes for the activation of your phone number. For this reason, it is not surprising that the average cost of an iPhone X in the country is higher than the marketed price in Mexico, Chile and Panama.

Juan Osorio, partner of the firm Muñoz Abogados, explains: "today in Colombia all have a minimum cell phone and this is not a luxury but a need, hence the burden tax that further affects the pocket of consumers of the so-called middle clbad. "

In Mexico, cell phones are considered fixed badets and must pay income tax (ISR), in addition, you must also pay the VAT rate which is equivalent to 16% in the national territory. Despite tax constraints, the prices of the most purchased smartphones are even lower than those of the Colombian market.

In Panama, although there are free zones to buy, equipment prices are high. At the moment of acquiring their phone, the inhabitants of the chain must pay double taxation. Both rates are 5% of the tax on the transfer of goods and services (Itbm) and 5% on the Selective Consumption Tax (SAI).

Chile has a 19% VAT rate, the same as the Colombian rate however, it still has lower prices than Colombians because there is no extra charge when Purchase of a phone and activation fees are lower.

To explain the difference in the prices of phones, Osorio added. "There is a distribution of VAT in several sectors.Colombia's telephone services are looking for other types of fees to make up for the money that they have not received because of the Government exemption. "

Although official figures from the Ministry of Finance indicate that the VAT exemption for low and medium range phones has meant a saving of 891 billion dollars to buyers. last year, the rate of 19% and other taxes make the purchase of high-end phones in the country more expensive than in other countries of Latin America according to experts. [19659004]