diff --git a/src/Task.cpp b/src/Task.cpp
index 5f394b0ef..2b7d9d0d5 100644
--- a/src/Task.cpp
+++ b/src/Task.cpp
@@ -2006,53 +2006,14 @@ void Task::modify (modType type, bool text_required /* = false */)
             evaluatedValue = Variant (value);
           }
 
-          // Dependencies are specified as IDs.
-          if (name == "depends")
+          // Dependencies are specified as IDs or UUIDs.
+          if (name == "depends" ||
+              name == "tags")
           {
             column->modify (*this, value);
             mods = true;
           }
 
-          // For those using the "tags:..." attribute directly.
-          else if (name == "tags")
-          {
-            // TW-1701
-            set ("tags", "");
-
-            std::vector <std::string> tags;
-            split (tags, value, ',');
-
-            for (auto& tag : tags)
-            {
-              // If it's a DOM ref, eval it first.
-              Lexer lexer (tag);
-              std::string domRef;
-              Lexer::Type type;
-              if (lexer.token (domRef, type) &&
-                  type == Lexer::Type::dom)
-              {
-                Eval e;
-                e.addSource (domSource);
-                e.addSource (namedDates);
-                contextTask = *this;
-
-                Variant v;
-                e.evaluateInfixExpression (value, v);
-                addTag ((std::string) v);
-                context.debug (label + "tags <-- '" + (std::string) v + "' <-- '" + tag + "'");
-              }
-              else
-              {
-                addTag (tag);
-                context.debug (label + "tags <-- '" + tag + "'");
-              }
-
-              feedback_special_tags (*this, tag);
-            }
-
-            mods = true;
-          }
-
           // Dates are special, maybe.
           else if (column->type () == "date")
           {
diff --git a/src/columns/ColTags.cpp b/src/columns/ColTags.cpp
index 3eece3d00..1e7812c36 100644
--- a/src/columns/ColTags.cpp
+++ b/src/columns/ColTags.cpp
@@ -28,11 +28,17 @@
 #include <ColTags.h>
 #include <algorithm>
 #include <Context.h>
+#include <Eval.h>
+#include <Variant.h>
+#include <Filter.h>
+#include <Dates.h>
 #include <text.h>
 #include <i18n.h>
 #include <utf8.h>
+#include <main.h>
 
 extern Context context;
+extern Task& contextTask;
 
 ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
 ColumnTags::ColumnTags ()
@@ -146,3 +152,43 @@ void ColumnTags::render (
 }
 
 ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
+void ColumnTags::modify (Task& task, const std::string& value)
+{
+  std::string label = "  MODIFICATION ";
+
+  // TW-1701
+  task.set ("tags", "");
+
+  std::vector <std::string> tags;
+  split (tags, value, ',');
+
+  for (auto& tag : tags)
+  {
+    // If it's a DOM ref, eval it first.
+    Lexer lexer (tag);
+    std::string domRef;
+    Lexer::Type type;
+    if (lexer.token (domRef, type) &&
+        type == Lexer::Type::dom)
+    {
+      Eval e;
+      e.addSource (domSource);
+      e.addSource (namedDates);
+      contextTask = task;
+
+      Variant v;
+      e.evaluateInfixExpression (value, v);
+      task.addTag ((std::string) v);
+      context.debug (label + "tags <-- '" + (std::string) v + "' <-- '" + tag + "'");
+    }
+    else
+    {
+      task.addTag (tag);
+      context.debug (label + "tags <-- '" + tag + "'");
+    }
+
+    feedback_special_tags (task, tag);
+  }
+}
+
+////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
diff --git a/src/columns/ColTags.h b/src/columns/ColTags.h
index 8cd61567d..c248b4b22 100644
--- a/src/columns/ColTags.h
+++ b/src/columns/ColTags.h
@@ -36,6 +36,7 @@ public:
   void setStyle (const std::string&);
   void measure (Task&, unsigned int&, unsigned int&);
   void render (std::vector <std::string>&, Task&, int, Color&);
+  void modify (Task&, const std::string&);
 
 private:
   bool _hyphenate;