Panama
Panama: 3 company types, its taxes, banking and business environment.
Forming a company
Company types in Panama
The 3 forms a founder can choose here, each with its own figures. Open one for its sources.
Doing business here
Business accounts
Providers whose own published list of countries names Panama. A listing means a company formed here may apply, not that it will be accepted.
Not in our records No provider's country list has been read for Panama.
EU listings
Two lists a bank checks when it opens an account for a company or its owner.
- EU high-risk third countries (AML)
- Not listed
- EU non-cooperative jurisdictions for tax purposes
- Not listedOfficial EUR-Lex, 52026XG01465, Annex I as of 2026-02-17
Official sites
The authorities’ own sites for Panama: where to register, file and check.
Blocs and agreements
The trade arrangements Panama belongs to, as each arrangement’s own texts state them: since when, and what each covers. What a membership means for a business is for you to judge.
- Central American Economic Integration (SIECA)
- Customs union · since 6 May 2013
Covers goods, a common external tariff.
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entró en vigencia el 4 de junio de 1961 para Guatemala, El Salvador y Nicaragua; el 27 de abril de 1962 para Honduras y el 23 de setiembre de 1963 para Costa Rica.
- Andean Community
- Observer
Listed as observer country; no date given.
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La Comunidad Andina, integrada por Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador y Perú es un organismo internacional líder en integración en el continente
- Pacific Alliance
- Observer
Named in the Framework Agreement art. 17 as an observer State at entry into force; the current observer list was not retrieved.
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La República de Colombia, la República de Chile, los Estados Unidos Mexicanos y la República del Perú, en adelante denominadas “las Partes”
Regional and customs arrangements only, 36 of them; bilateral trade agreements are not yet in our records.
Tax
Company tax
Tax, and what the company owes the registry each year.
- Corporate income tax
- 25%
- Distributions
- Not in our records
- Audit
- Not in our records
- Small-company relief
- Not in our records
- Annual obligations
- Not in our records
- Annual registry fee
- PAB 300Official The registry or ministry page as of 2026-10-10
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Las sociedades anónimas, sociedades de responsabilidad limitada y cualesquiera otras personas jurídicas, nacionales o extranjeras, pagarán al momento de su inscripción y en los años subsiguientes una tasa única anual de trescientos balboas (B/. 300.00)
VAT
The tax on what the company sells in Panama, and when it must register, as the tax authority states it.
- Standard rate
- Not in our recordsThe tax authority’s pages have not been read for Panama.
Tax calendar
When the main returns and payments fall due in Panama, tax year 2026, as the tax authority states it.
- Corporate tax return
- 3 months after the end of the accounting period · each year
The income tax return is annual and is filed within the three months following the end of the taxpayer's fiscal year, i.e. before 31 March for a calendar-year taxpayer. In Spanish: 'Persona Jurídica debe declarar antes del 31 de marzo de cada año.'
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debe presentarse dentro de los tres (3) meses siguientes a la terminación del año fiscal del contribuyente
- Corporate tax, final payment
- 31 March · each year
The whole tax determined on the return is paid by 31 March of the year following the fiscal year, even where an extension to file is granted; a prórroga does not move the payment. In Spanish: 'los impuestos de Renta Natural, Renta Jurídica y Aviso de Operaciones que vencen el 31 de marzo sí hay que pagarlos en esa fecha.'
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los impuestos de Renta Natural, Renta Jurídica y Aviso de Operaciones que vencen el 31 de marzo sí hay que pagarlos en esa fecha
- Corporate tax, instalments
- Set each year by decree · each quarter
The estimated income tax is paid in cash or in three instalments by 30 June, 30 September and 31 December of the year. In Spanish: 'El impuesto sobre la renta estimado y el Seguro Educativo deben pagarse de contado o en tres partidas, a más tardar en las siguientes fechas: 30 de junio, 30 de septiembre y 31 de diciembre.'
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El impuesto sobre la renta estimado y el Seguro Educativo deben pagarse de contado o en tres partidas, a más tardar en las siguientes fechas: 30 de junio, 30 de septiembre y 31 de diciembre del presente año.
- Personal income-tax return
- 15 March · each year
Natural persons file the income tax return between 1 January and 15 March of each year. In Spanish: 'Las declaraciones de renta de Persona Natural deben realizarse antes del 15 de marzo de cada año.'
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Las declaraciones de renta de Persona Natural deben realizarse antes del 15 de marzo de cada año y las de Persona Jurídica, antes del 31 de marzo de cada año.
- Personal income tax, final payment
- 31 March · each year
Although the natural person's return is due by 15 March, the tax due falls due on 31 March; the DGI states that the natural-person income tax and the Aviso de Operaciones due on 31 March must be paid on that date to avoid interest and surcharges.
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los impuestos de Renta Natural, Renta Jurídica y Aviso de Operaciones que vencen el 31 de marzo sí hay que pagarlos en esa fecha
- Personal income tax, instalments
- Set each year by decree · each quarter
The estimated income tax is paid in cash or in three instalments by 30 June, 30 September and 31 December of the year.
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El impuesto sobre la renta estimado y el Seguro Educativo deben pagarse de contado o en tres partidas, a más tardar en las siguientes fechas: 30 de junio, 30 de septiembre y 31 de diciembre del presente año.
- VAT return
- Day 15 of the following month · each month
The ITBMS return is filed and paid within the first fifteen days of the month following the tax period. In Spanish: 'La declaración de ITBMS debe presentarse los primeros 15 días del mes.'
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Presentar declaración y pagar a más tardar el día 15 de cada mes.
- Payroll withholding
- Day 30 of the following month · each month
The monthly withholding return is filed within the first thirty days of the month following the reported month. In Spanish: 'Esta declaración debe ser presentada mensualmente dentro de los primeros treinta (30) días del mes siguiente de cada mes reportado.' (The separate Planilla 03 salary report is due within 60 calendar days of the CSS SIPE payroll filing.)
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Esta declaración debe ser presentada mensualmente dentro de los primeros treinta (30) días del mes siguiente de cada mes reportado.
Running the company
Running a company here
Not in our records The authorities’ pages on running a company have not been read for Panama yet.
Economy and trade
What it exports
Goods Panama exported, by product, as a share of its goods exports each year. Exports include goods passing through for re-export. A share describes Panama’s own trade; it does not compare places.
| Product (HS heading) | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | Value, 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cruise ships, excursion boats, ferry-boats, cargo ships, barges and similar vessels for the transport of persons or goods HS 8901 | 11.6% | 5.8% | 10.9% | US$406 m |
| Bananas, including plantains, fresh or dried HS 0803 | 3.1% | 4.3% | 7.1% | US$264 m |
| Petroleum oils and oils obtained from bituminous minerals, other than crude; preparations not elsewhere specified or included, containing by weight 70 % or more of petroleum oils or of oils obtained from bituminous minerals, these oils being the basic constituents of the preparations; waste oils HS 2710 | 2.5% | 4.5% | 5.6% | US$206 m |
| Medicaments (excluding goods of heading 3002, 3005 or 3006) consisting of mixed or unmixed products for therapeutic or prophylactic uses, put up in measured doses (including those in the form of transdermal administration systems) or in forms or packings for retail sale HS 3004 | 1.3% | 2.3% | 4.0% | US$149 m |
| Other vessels, including warships and lifeboats other than rowing boats HS 8906 | under 0.05% | 0.08% | 4.0% | US$149 m |
| Gold (including gold plated with platinum), unwrought or in semi-manufactured forms, or in powder form HS 7108 | 1.8% | 1.7% | 3.3% | US$122 m |
| Fish, frozen, excluding fish fillets and other fish meat of heading 0304 HS 0303 | 1.4% | 1.5% | 3.0% | US$112 m |
| Light-vessels, fire-floats, dredgers, floating cranes, and other vessels the navigability of which is subsidiary to their main function; floating docks; floating or submersible drilling or production platforms HS 8905 | 3.1% | 7.0% | 2.5% | US$94 m |
| Fats and oils and their fractions, of fish or marine mammals, whether or not refined, but not chemically modified HS 1504 | 0.15% | 1.9% | 2.4% | US$89 m |
| Cane or beet sugar and chemically pure sucrose, in solid form HS 1701 | 0.82% | 0.79% | 2.3% | US$85 m |
Total goods exports, 2024: US$3.7 bn. The ten largest headings are shown.