After the amendments introduced in 2019, which designated the UPME as the single competent authority for these purposes, said entity issued Resolution 203 of 2020 to establish the requirements and procedure through which applications will be evaluated and certificates will be issued to access the tax benefits for investments in non-conventional energy sources – FNCE. Such benefits are the special income tax deduction, the accelerated depreciation of assets, VAT exclusion, and exemption from customs duties.

Despite the amendments enabled by the anti-formalities decree in November of last year (Decree 2106 of 2019), the resolution maintained the list of goods and services eligible for the FNCE incentives.

In addition, the resolution set step by step the requirements to apply for certification, the annexes, and forms to comply with these requirements.  Likewise, it established the procedure for requesting certification and the process for issuing certificates.

If the result of the evaluation is positive, the UPME shall issue a certificate which is valid and sufficient to apply the tax benefits of Law 1715 of 2014. 

With the above, after several months of waiting, investors, builders, financers, promoters, and other agents of the renewable energy market have clear rules for the materialization of the tax benefits provided in Law 1715 of 2014.

This procedure is expected to be faster and simpler than the previous ones, considering that now it is only necessary to go to the UPME for this purpose.

See full text of Resolution 203 of 2020