The Second Family Court of Cartagena has issued a decision of great economic and legal impact by ordering the temporary protection of the fundamental rights of the Cartagena Refinery (Reficar), a subsidiary of Ecopetrol. The main measure consists of ordering the National Tax and Customs Directorate (DIAN) to immediately suspend any embargo or coercive collection measure against the refinery.

The dispute arose from a controversy over the collection of Value Added Tax (VAT). The DIAN argues that Reficar was obliged to pay a 19% tariff for gasoline and diesel imports made during the period between 2022 and 2024. These charges translated into official settlements that, added together, reach approximately $1.3 billion pesos, plus penalties and interest.

The DIAN contradicts itself

The controversy is aggravated due to a change in the criteria of the collecting entity. For years, the DIAN had maintained that there was no clear tax base to apply VAT on such operations, since the Ministry of Mines and Energy had not set the prices of gasoline and ACPM, a requirement required by the Tax Statute. However, in 2024, the entity changed its point of view and began to require the tax with the general rate.

Reficar, for its part, argued before the judge that the immediate execution of this coercive charge by the DIAN would seriously jeopardize its operation, the job stability of its more than 4,600 workers and, crucially, the supply of fuel throughout the Caribbean region. The refinery’s defense warned that an embargo could paralyze the company in less than two weeks.

The judge considered the magnitude of the consequences, determining that the execution of the collection measure implied a certain and imminent risk of irremediable harm. Although the judicial decision does not resolve the substance of the tax dispute, its primary objective is to guarantee that the refinery can continue its functions while the conflict is resolved.

The ruling is temporary and forces Reficar to advance with the relevant legal process. The court required the company to present, in the coming days, the claim for annulment and restoration of the right against the administrative acts of the DIAN. In this way, it will be the contentious-administrative jurisdiction, and not the family jurisdiction, that will definitively determine whether the millionaire tax collections are valid or not.