Predial in Medellín: How Property Tax Works for El Poblado Owners

If you own an apartment in El Poblado, you pay Medellín's impuesto predial unificado (the municipal property tax, usually just called "predial"). The city bills it quarterly by default, with due dates that vary by sector. You can also pay the whole year up front, and in 2026 the Alcaldía offered a 5% discount for doing that by late March if you had no debt from earlier years. The amount comes from your property's avalúo catastral (the official cadastral value, not the market price) multiplied by a rate that depends on how the property is classified.

That's the short version. Below we cover how the bill is put together, how the payment calendar works, what changed with Medellín's recent cadastral update for El Poblado, how predial shows up in a purchase, and what to do if you think your valuation is off. We're locals explaining the system, not tax advisors. For your own situation, especially if you rent the place out or own through a company, talk to a Colombian accountant or lawyer.

What predial is and who pays it

Predial is a municipal tax charged every year to the owner of each property in the city. It isn't based on your income, your residency, or whether you live there. A foreign owner who visits twice a year pays it the same way a local family does. The bill goes to whoever is registered as owner, so after you buy, the obligation follows the property to you.

In Medellín it's run by the Secretaría de Hacienda (the city's treasury department) through its online tax portal. The portal is where you look up your account statement, download the bill (factura or documento de cobro), pay, and get your certificate of good standing.

How the bill is calculated

The math is simple even if the inputs aren't: avalúo catastral × tax rate = annual predial, minus any discount, plus any surcharge for paying late.

The avalúo catastral

The avalúo catastral is the value the city's cadastral authority assigns to your property for tax purposes. It isn't the price you paid and it isn't an appraisal for a mortgage. Under Colombia's cadastral rules, the value set in an update has to stay within a band of the commercial value. Reporting on Medellín's most recent update described that band as at least 60% and no more than 100% of commercial value. Between full updates, the value is adjusted each year by a national or municipal decree.

You can see your property's avalúo catastral on the predial bill and in the city's tax portal. If you're still shopping, ask the seller for the latest bill. It's one of the simplest ways to check what you'll actually be paying.

The rate

Medellín's city council sets the rates by agreement. They depend on things like the property's use (residential, commercial, vacant lot), its estrato (the socioeconomic tier from 1 to 6 used for utility pricing and some taxes), and the value bracket. Most of El Poblado is estrato 5 or 6, so residential rates there tend to sit at the upper end of the scale. Our estrato 6 guide covers what that tier means day to day. We won't quote rates here because they change. Use the portal and your actual bill.

Caps on annual increases

Colombian law has put limits on how much a home's predial can rise from one year to the next, most notably Ley 1995 of 2019, which tied the cap to inflation plus a set margin for properties with an updated cadastral value, and set separate limits for others. How those caps apply to a given property and year is technical. If your bill jumps sharply, that's a question for an accountant or lawyer, not a guess.

The cadastral update and El Poblado

Medellín carried out a cadastral update that began in June 2024 and covered comunas 11, 12 and 14 (Laureles–Estadio, La América and El Poblado), plus the rural district of Santa Elena. The city said that for the 2025 tax year, the increase in predial for updated properties would be held to no more than 3%, and that sectors outside the update got a 3% adjustment to their avalúo. Keep in mind that an updated value can keep feeding into later years' bills, so a small first-year increase doesn't tell you everything about later years.

For a buyer, that means two things. First, many El Poblado properties now have recently updated values, so the bill a seller shows you should reflect the post-update number. Second, older listing documents or old predial bills may understate what you'll pay. Ask for the current year's bill, not a figure from memory.

The 2026 payment calendar, and how to read yours

By default, Medellín splits the annual predial into four quarterly installments. Each quarter has a window to pay without a surcharge, and the exact date inside that window depends on the property's sector. After that comes a later deadline, with a surcharge, before the payment counts as overdue. Here's the city's published 2026 calendar:

The city doesn't tie each sector to one fixed date across years, so don't assume last year's date still holds. Your own date is printed on your bill and shown in the portal.

The annual pay-in-full discount

For 2026, the Alcaldía offered a 5% discount on the full year's tax for owners who paid the whole year in advance, with March 27, 2026 reported as the deadline. The condition reported by the city was being current, meaning no unpaid predial from previous years. The discount and its terms are decided again each year, so check the portal in January or February 2027 for that year's offer before you plan around it.

If you fall behind

Missing the windows leads to surcharges and, after the final dates, late-payment interest on what you owe. If you've fallen behind, ask the Secretaría de Hacienda what payment options are available for your account. If you inherit a debt from a seller (which a good closing should prevent), it can block the certificates you'll need later.

How to pay from abroad

The city lets you check, download and pay your predial online through the Secretaría de Hacienda's tax portal, or pay in person at authorized banks. Paying online usually goes through PSE, Colombia's bank-to-bank payment system, which needs a Colombian bank account. Owners without one often pay through a trusted local contact, their property manager, or in person during a visit.

1. Register on the portal. Create your user on Medellín's tax portal and link the property by its identifying number, which is on the bill.
2. Check your account statement. Make sure the owner name matches the registry after your purchase and that there's no old balance.
3. Download the current bill. Pick the quarterly installment or the full-year option, depending on what's open.
4. Pay and save the receipt. Keep a PDF copy of every payment. You'll want them when you sell.
5. Download your paz y salvo when you need it. The city issues the certificate of good standing for free once the current year has no balance.

Predial when you buy or sell

Predial comes up at the closing in two ways.

The certificate. To sign a deed transferring the property, the notaría generally requires proof that the predial is paid. In Medellín that's the paz y salvo predial (the predial clearance certificate), which the city issues free through the portal. It covers only the current tax year and isn't issued while there's an outstanding balance or late charge. In practice, the seller often has to pay the full current year before signing. The city's betterment levy, valorización, has its own separate certificate.

The split. Because the seller may have paid the whole year, buyers and sellers commonly agree in the promesa de compraventa (the purchase promise contract) on how to share that year's tax, for example in proportion to the months each one owns the property. That's a negotiation, not a rule. Have your lawyer write it into the promesa so there's no argument at the notaría.

• Ask for the current year's predial bill before you make an offer, and note the avalúo catastral.
• Check the bill's municipality (Medellín or Envigado) and estrato.
• Have your lawyer confirm no old predial or valorización debt is attached to the property.
• Agree on how the current year's predial is split, in writing, in the promesa.
• After registration, confirm the city's records show you as owner and that the next bill comes to you.

For the whole closing sequence, see our guide to closing a Poblado purchase over the holidays, which covers certificate timing in detail. Predial is also one line in your total ownership cost, alongside the monthly building fee covered in our Poblado administración fees guide.

Disputing your avalúo catastral

If you think your property's cadastral value is wrong, for example because the recorded area, use or features don't match reality, you can ask the cadastral authority to review it. Owners have a right to request a review, and the authority has a set period to respond. Medellín's catastro office handles this for properties in the city.

The strongest reviews are about facts on file: square meters that don't match the deed, a property classified under the wrong use, or features recorded that don't exist. "It feels too high compared to my neighbor" is harder to argue.

Predial for investors and rental owners

If you rent out your Poblado apartment, predial is a fixed annual cost you should model the same way you'd model the building fee. It doesn't change with occupancy, so a slow season doesn't lower it. Investors comparing returns should put the actual current bill into the numbers. Our short-term rental investment overview and the rental rules guide cover the rest of the picture.

Predial is separate from your income tax obligations, in Colombia or at home, on any rental income or on a later sale. Those depend on your residency and personal situation and need a qualified accountant.

Questions about what predial looks like on a specific building you're considering? Send us the details and we'll point you toward the right local professional.