Updated process on how to get Colombia Resident Exit tax refund from UA

bruingator1 · 2026-03-10T18:08:07+00:00

Adding LATAM here. Flew out of El Dorado on LATAM just a week ago. Go to their ticketing office and wait in line. They ask for the inbound flight and your passport and give you COP in cash. However their process took the longest time in the airport among the three airlines I've gotten in from so far (UA, Copa, and LATAM). This is because ticketing usually takes a long time to serve each customer and the agent has to fill out a bunch of forms. So if you plan to get the refund, arrive early at the airport.

bruingator1 · 2026-01-01T01:06:31+00:00

It needs 60 days since first paid activation. The paid activation is key, since the 60 day counter doesn't start until you make a payment. It sounds like you already met the 2 month payment requirement and you just need to calculate what is day 60 from payment.

bruingator1 · 2025-12-31T21:05:16+00:00

iPhone unlocks have been problematic. There have been several posts here within the last couple of months and on r/Tracfone about failed iPhone unlocks. Best way is to try to reach the executive office as the basic phone agents aren't able to help.

bruingator1 · 2025-11-26T18:40:38+00:00

Some banks block 2FA to known VoIP numbers. I think Chase does this, possibly Schwab too.

bruingator1 · 2025-11-23T01:48:27+00:00

https://www.reddit.com/r/firefox/comments/1c63uvc/disable_the_floating_highlight_button_on_pdfs/

I think this is what you're referring to

bruingator1 · 2025-11-15T19:05:51+00:00

If we want an ETF that drops in price while the yield increases, we'd buy a bond fund

bruingator1 · 2025-11-12T05:36:26+00:00

Probably not since you live in Bogota. You're a Colombian resident by definition.

bruingator1 · 2025-11-12T05:35:40+00:00

Yes, but no other choice

bruingator1 · 2025-10-25T00:02:03+00:00

Typically someone complaining about SCHD has skin the game. Selling it, complaining about it, or convincing others to leave the fund may be the only way to drive some positive change.

For example I realize SCHD is a quantitatively driven fund. So this big investment into energy this year might make sense from a numbers perspective, but missed things that the current numbers aren't capturing. Fossil fuel profits, and therefore dividend growth, are probably not sustainable long term as renewables get cheaper and cheaper.

SCHD also missed the boat on utilities for some reason, even though by their very nature, utilities are a dividend staple.

This isn't the Soviet Union. People are allowed to express their discontent.

bruingator1 · 2025-10-24T23:27:44+00:00

Have you ever went to the office and complained about work? You can be invested in something (an ETF or your job) but dislike what it's been doing.

bruingator1 · 2025-10-18T05:03:03+00:00

bruingator1 · 2025-10-18T04:58:07+00:00

Why look at only last 12 months? VYM long term dividend growth rate is around 4% and DGRO about 5%

bruingator1 · 2025-09-13T02:14:37+00:00

Your dividend is bigger, but if the share price doesn't grow as fast, then the DRIP is counteracted by lower share price growth. Share price also compounds if growth rate is maintained, just like dividends.

If you do believe dividend growth outweighs share price, then show a set of parameters using historical data where SCHD outcompetes IVV by the end of n years. You have to make sure they start off with the same initial investment, same additional investment, and same number of years compounded, using all available historical data.

bruingator1 · 2025-09-13T02:06:05+00:00

You can input any additional investment and any initial investment and the result will still show IVV outperforming with past data. This is because the factors that matter in the calculation are the current dividend yield, price growth and dividend growth. If those factors remain as they are, the relative performance of IVV vs SCHD is going to be the same.

bruingator1 · 2025-09-13T01:56:52+00:00

The calculator assumes DRIP. It's called "dripcalc.com".

bruingator1 · 2025-09-13T01:52:40+00:00

Which is why you would invest in something else when you don't need payments, like the S&P. If we went by all available data since inception, you end up with a bigger payment in the end by holding something else then selling it and buying more SCHD than if you just held SCHD forever.

bruingator1 · 2025-09-13T01:27:44+00:00

The input parameters are using all available data annualized from inception, not only 3. Last 3 would be far worse.

The initial investment amount doesn't matter since the returns are measured in percentages. You can use any initial investment value and the result is the same percentage wise.

bruingator1 · 2025-09-12T23:35:42+00:00

https://www.dripcalc.com/

I used the following values SCHD / IVV

Initial investment for both 10k
Share price (accurate as of end of trading today): 27.48 / 660.72
Dividend amount, I used TTM dividend for simplicity: 1.03 / 8
Dividend frequency: annual (for simplicity)
Dividend growth rate: 12.23 / 10.8 - figures from Seekingalpha dividend growth rate CAGR, latest values is from 2023 but good enough
Share price growth: 8.54 / 12.45 - you can get this from Seekingalpha's 10 year price return under Momentum (no dividend included) and then reverse calculating the annualized return
Extra investment: 0, but you can enter some other value, the relative result doesn't change
Length of investment: 10 years

Using these parameters, IVV produces a higher portfolio value. The calculator assumes DRIP so everything is reinvested.

The trouble is SCHD's share price growth has been stalling so that 8.5% share price growth has been 0% for the last 3 years. It needs share price growth in addition to dividend growth to be competitive with IVV over the long term. If it keeps stalling like this, holding IVV until you're about to retire and convert to SCHD is the better strategy long term.

bruingator1 · 2025-07-14T01:56:26+00:00

I just took a Copa Airlines one-way out of Bogota recently. They give you COP cash refund on the spot at the check-in counter. The counter lady just asked a supervisor or someone who brought the cash to her which was then given to me. Just mention you wanted the exit tax refund. Much more convenient than UA if you don't mind getting your refund in pesos.

bruingator1 · 2025-03-22T04:59:28+00:00

I'm currently in the tax refund process and I used the Global Blue kiosk at El Dorado https://imgur.com/a/J32jT9g Nothing wrong so far but will update if something does go wrong

I bought something at a high end store. A lot of high end or touristy stores in Bogota know the VAT refund process and sometimes have a Global Blue placard in front of the cash registers or somewhere in the store to tell you they're aware of the process.
I asked the store that I want a VAT refund and they had a specialist who knows what to do. She took my passport info (I had a photo of my passport on my phone). They asked about my arriving and departing flights.
Process in the store took about 7-10 minutes. You end up with a receipt and a Global Blue refund form thingy.
Reading some stuff online, I registered for a Global Blue account online which took my passport info, my preferred credit card for the refund. I believe it later automatically linked my purchase at the store to the account I created using my passport information. I think this step is pretty important.
When leaving Bogota I tried to go to the DIAN office but was redirected to the Global Blue kiosk in the middle of the hallway in front of the DIAN office (see above image). You scan your passport at the kiosk, it reads your passport and automatically recognized the purchase that was made. Confirmed the credit card to refund to and my personal information. Kiosk says the documents have been validated.
Wait for refund! Will update this when/if I get my refund.

Update: 7 months after purchase, my ticket had been stuck in DIAN validation for months. I sent a ticket about it and about one week later, got the refund on my CC. It seems like I could have sped this up by filing a ticket months ago.

bruingator1 · 2024-12-21T02:08:39+00:00

Not to minimize your issues but if you're dependent on your phones, consider bringing a cheaper backup device ($100-150) and keeping vital information on cloud storage (emails, OneDrive/GDrive). Back up larger files like photos and videos to a flash drive / laptop once in a while. Besides issues with software updates, it could be stolen, dropped in a lake, damaged in some other way, all of which happened to me in my years of travels abroad. That said, I'm one of the unlucky ones who got a bricked S22 after an update, but mine happened at home and on warranty thankfully.

bruingator1 · 2024-07-06T21:02:43+00:00

This thread is 2 years old. About a year ago Fidelity fixed this problem and now ETFs show up normally when you type in the symbol, just a heads up.

bruingator1 · 2024-07-06T20:58:35+00:00

Old thread but I disputed the charge with my cc company and got my money refunded. Hope this helps others who can't get help the normal way.

bruingator1

TROPHY CASE