Nu Colombia publicly denounced that, more than 500 days after Article 65 of Law 2277 of 2022 came into force, the 4x1000 tax exemption for transfers between a person's own bank accounts has still not been fully implemented across the financial system. Both opposition and government-aligned coverage agree that the fintech launched a campaign branded around "Day 501" and that, between May 5 and 9, it will assume or refund the value of the 4x1000 tax for users who move new money into Nu Colombia CDs/CDTs as a way to compensate customers and draw attention to the regulatory delay.

Both sides also concur that the core technical requirement is a more robust, daily and transparent exchange of information between the tax authority Dian and financial institutions so that people can designate accounts as exempt and the exemption can be applied correctly. They agree that the current situation means Colombians continue paying a tax relief that has already been approved in law, that the delay has a tangible financial cost for users, and that Nu’s move is framed as a protest-action meant to pressure institutions to finalize the implementation of the exemption mechanism across multiple entities.

Areas of disagreement

Responsibility and blame. Opposition-aligned coverage emphasizes institutional negligence and bureaucratic inertia, portraying the more than 500-day delay as a failure of the current government and regulators to prioritize relief for ordinary account holders. Government-aligned outlets acknowledge the delay but tend to frame it as a complex, system-wide implementation challenge involving coordination between Dian and many financial institutions. While opposition sources highlight that the technology is already available and suggest a lack of political will, government-aligned reports stress regulatory safeguards and technical integration as legitimate reasons for slow progress.

Framing of Nu Colombia’s role. Opposition outlets portray Nu Colombia as a whistleblower and consumer advocate that is exposing an unacceptable lag in honoring a legal tax benefit and temporarily shielding users from an unfair charge. Government-aligned coverage presents Nu more as a market actor running a publicity campaign that, while beneficial to customers, also serves its competitive positioning in the financial sector. The former stresses Nu’s criticism of the state’s timeline, whereas the latter balances that criticism with attention to Nu’s commercial interests and the promotional nature of the CDT offer.

Interpretation of the 4x1000 reform. Opposition coverage treats the 4x1000 exemption for own-account transfers as a clear and overdue relief measure that should already be fully operational, arguing that any further delay undermines the credibility of tax reforms. Government-aligned sources place the measure within the broader tax reform framework of Law 2277, suggesting that phased, careful implementation is necessary to avoid fraud and administrative errors. In the opposition narrative, the delay is primarily a political and administrative choice, while in pro-government narratives it is more a technical and procedural consequence of ambitious reform.

Impact on citizens and institutions. Opposition-aligned media underscore the ongoing financial harm to citizens, quantifying the delay as hundreds of days in which people continue paying a tax from which they were supposed to be exempt, and imply that banks and the state benefit from this status quo. Government-aligned coverage also notes the burden on users but pairs it with mention of institutional constraints, resource limits, and the need to update multiple legacy systems across the industry. As a result, opposition pieces tend to cast citizens mainly as victims of state inefficiency, whereas government-friendly pieces present them as beneficiaries-in-waiting of a complex reform still in the pipeline.

In summary, opposition coverage tends to frame the 4x1000 exemption delay as a politically driven failure of the government and regulators, spotlighting Nu Colombia as a consumer champion calling out neglect, while government-aligned coverage tends to acknowledge the delay but contextualize it as a technical and regulatory challenge within a broader reform, presenting Nu’s initiative as both a protest and a promotional move.