Technical article

Colombia, Ecuador, Chile and Argentina: Inheritance and Trust Rules Compared

PwC's inheritance chart (tier B, to September 2026) lists Chile at 25% and Colombia at 15%.

By Neil Solomon · 4 min read

Picture a retired man from Virginia with three adult children. One is thinking of Medellín, one of Quito, and one of Santiago. A friend talks up Buenos Aires. He asks which of these countries would tax his children when they inherit, and how much.

The sources give a clear answer on inheritance for all four. They say less about trusts, so this piece keeps to what is on the page.

Colombia

Colombia has no inheritance or gift tax as such. Inheritances, legacies and donations count as occasional gains, taxed at 15%, and the heir pays (PwC, tier B, 2026). Someone is a fiscal resident after 183 days in any 365 consecutive days. The top income tax rate is 39%.

Colombia also has a wealth tax above 72,000 tax units, which is COP 3,770,928,000 (about US$900,000) for 2026, at 0.5%, 1.0% and 1.5%. A 2026 proposal to lower the threshold was under court review in January.

On trusts, a legal-press column (tier U) says a transfer from a trust to a beneficiary is taxed as an occasional gain at 15%, borne by the beneficiary. The same column says that for a foreign trust the settlor is the one who declares the income, under a 2021 law.

Ecuador

Ecuador taxes inheritances, legacies and gifts on a table from 0% to 35%, and the heirs pay. Assets abroad of residents are included. A secondary site quoting the tax authority (tier U) gives the table: nothing on the first US$76,558, then 5%, 10%, 15%, 20%, 25% and 30% in steps of about US$153,000, and 35% above US$918,725. The top income tax rate is 37% above US$109,956. A resident is someone present more than 183 days.

Chile

Chile's tax authority (tier A) publishes the inheritance scale under Law 16.271. It runs from 1% to 25%, with the 25% rate above 1,200 of the yearly tax units Chile uses. A spouse, parents and children are exempt up to 50 of those units on inheritances and 5 on gifts. A surcharge of 20% applies to collateral relatives of the second to fourth degree, and 40% to everyone else. The tax is due within two years of death. Chile has no net wealth tax. A resident is someone in the country six consecutive months in a calendar year, or more than six months across two years.

Argentina

Argentina has no federal inheritance or gift tax. Buenos Aires province taxes free transfers. For a spouse, children and parents there is a non-taxable minimum and rates from 1.603% to 7.008%. Other ascendants and descendants pay 2.404% to 8.191% (a financial-press article, tier U, July 2026). Residents pay an annual tax on worldwide personal assets, filed in June. Trustees, settlors and beneficiaries of trusts abroad must report them in a return due at the end of July (PwC, tier B). A 2018 opinion piece (tier U) says a 2017 reform exempted irrevocable foreign trusts where Argentine residents lack control.

The four side by side

Colombia, Ecuador and Argentina rest on tier U sources for the trust rules and the Ecuador table. Chile rests on the tax authority. PwC's inheritance chart (tier B, to September 2026) lists Chile at 25% and Colombia at 15%.

What this touches

The heir carries the tax and the filing. The settlor carries the planning. A trustee abroad may be asked for the paperwork. Which child lives where decides which line applies.

You might say: "I can live with 15%, but 35% is another matter." Ecuador's table starts at nothing and climbs by steps, so most of a modest inheritance sits in the low steps. A larger one reaches the high ones.

If a child of yours moved to one of these four, what did you wish you had known first? Share it here. Another family may be reading the same table.

Figures are estimates for planning, based on public data. Date read: October 2026.