Spanish Abstract: Este documento presenta el proceso de descentralizacion en Colombia desde su plano fiscal, a traves del marco normativo que lo comprende y como es su relacion con las finanzas publicas del departamento de Santander, esto mediante la identificacion de la situacion fiscal del departamento en el periodo 2000-2013. La reflexion se genera tomando como base los ingresos y gastos presupuestales del departamento y los indicadores de esfuerzo fiscal, dependencia intergubernamental y autonomia fiscal departamental, indicadores planteados por el Departamento Nacional de Planeacion (DNP), que dejan ver la falta de autonomia financiera y el grado de dependencia de los recursos provenientes del Sistema General de Participacion (SGP) y de regalias. English Abstract: This document presents the decentralization process in Colombia from the fiscal perspective and by means of its regulatory framework as well as the relationship it has with the public finances of the department of Santander. All of this is done by describing the taxes situation of the department in the term 2000- 2013. The reflection is created based on the revenues and planed expenses of the department and the indicators of fiscal effort, the intergovernmental office and the department fiscal autonomy, criteria set by the National Planning Department (DNP), which reveal the lack of financial autonomy and the extent of the dependency of the resources coming from the General System of Participation (SGP) and the royalties.