Countries › Panama › Guide › 15. Exiting › Closing with the DGI and PANAMAEMPRENDE: final return, RUC update and cancelling the Aviso de Operación

Closing with the DGI and PANAMAEMPRENDE: final return, RUC update and cancelling the Aviso de Operación

Last verified: 2026-10-29 · Status: Stable

Within 30 days of ending its business a company files a final sworn return and balance, pays income tax to the cessation date and settles dividend tax on all retained earnings. Taxpayers must report the cessation of activities, transfers of assets and transformations to the Registro Único de Contribuyentes, and must notify PANAMAEMPRENDE within 30 days to cancel the Aviso de Operación. Failing to update the Aviso de Operación is an infraction fined by the Ministerio de Comercio e Industrias at B/.500 to B/.10,000.

Panama's currency, the balboa (B/.), is at par with the US dollar, which circulates freely as legal tender; the Superintendencia de Bancos states that the balboa's value is on a par with the US dollar (checked 29 October 2026). USD figures therefore equal the balboa figures.

Key facts

Deadline for the final income tax return after ceasing business	30 daysCódigo Fiscal art. 717, as of 2026-10-29 · in force
Deadline to notify cessation to PANAMAEMPRENDE (Aviso de Operación)	30 daysLey 5 de 2007 art. 12, as of 2026-10-29 · in force
Maximum MICI fine for breaches of the Aviso de Operación rules	10000 PABLey 5 de 2007 art. 19 (Ley 2 de 2013), as of 2026-10-29 · in force
Corporate income tax rate	25 %Código Fiscal art. 699, as of 2026-10-29 · in force
Exchange rate used for USD conversions	1 PAB per USDBalboa at par with the US dollar (Superintendencia de Bancos), as of 2026-10-29 · in force

The rule

1. Every person that, because its business ends, ceases to be subject to income tax on it must file within 30 days of the end its sworn return and final balance and pay at once the tax due to the cessation date. A legal person must also present the liquidation of its retained earnings to the cessation date and proof of payment of the income tax on the distribution of dividends.
Cost to do it: Income tax to the cessation date at 25 percent of net taxable income, plus 10 percent dividend tax on local retained earnings (5 percent on foreign source, export or listed exempt income).
Example: Retained earnings of B/.300,000 of local source: B/.30,000 of dividend tax shown as paid with the final return. / US$300,000 retained: US$30,000 of dividend tax.Código Fiscal art. 717 first paragraph as worded by Ley 8 de 2016 art. 62, art. 717, 2016-04-04 official text · verified 2026-10-29 · changed: Ley 8 de 2016 added the duty for legal persons to present the liquidation of retained earnings and proof of dividend tax with the final return.

2. Persons obliged to pay taxes must register in the Registro Único de Contribuyentes and keep their data up to date, reporting any change that may alter their tax liability, including change or cessation of activities, transfer or assignment of assets and transformation of companies, in the form and conditions set by law.Ley 76 de 2019, Código de Procedimiento Tributario, art. 200, 2019-02-13 official text · verified 2026-10-29

3. Any change in the content of the Aviso de Operación, and the cessation of operations, must be notified to the PANAMAEMPRENDE system within 30 days of the event. Merging companies must notify the merger within 30 days of its registration at the Registro Público so that the Aviso de Operación of absorbed companies is cancelled; their remaining establishments become branches of the absorbing company.
Cost to do it: No fee is set in art. 12 for notifying cessation.Ley 5 de 2007, art. 12, 2007-01-11 official text · verified 2026-10-29

4. Failing to update the Aviso de Operación in time under art. 12 is an infraction of commerce; breaches without a specific sanction are fined by the Ministerio de Comercio e Industrias from B/.500 to B/.10,000 according to gravity, besides the power to cancel the Aviso de Operación and order closure.
Cost to do it: Fine of B/.500 to B/.10,000.
Example: Missing the 30 day notice can cost up to B/.10,000. / Up to US$10,000.Ley 5 de 2007 arts. 18 numeral 6 and 19 as worded by Ley 2 de 2013 arts. 6 and 7, arts. 18 and 19, 2013-02-05 official text · verified 2026-10-29

5. Regardless of liability for failing to notify cessation, the Ministerio de Comercio e Industrias may cancel an Aviso de Operación of its own motion if it determines that the establishment has definitively ceased operating or did not start within 90 days; when the cause is cessation, notice of the resolution is given by edict posted for five business days.Ley 5 de 2007 art. 22 as worded by Ley 2 de 2013 art. 10, art. 22, 2013-02-05 official text · verified 2026-10-29

6. Tax credits assigned between merged or spun off companies must be reported to the Dirección General de Ingresos to have tax effect.Ley 76 de 2019, Código de Procedimiento Tributario, art. 84, 2019-02-13 official text · verified 2026-10-29

7. The tasa única is due every year while the company remains registered; legal persons that do not pay it cannot register corporate acts, including their dissolution.
Cost to do it: B/.300 a year until the dissolution is registered.Código Fiscal art. 318-A parágrafo 1 as worded by Ley 52 de 2016 art. 9, art. 318-A parágrafo 1, 2016-10-27 official text · verified 2026-10-29

Authority	Filing	Deadline	Source
DGI	Final sworn return, final balance and retained earnings liquidation with dividend tax proof	30 days after the business ends	Código Fiscal art. 717
DGI	RUC update for cessation, asset transfers or transformation	As set by law and regulations	CPT art. 200
MICI (PANAMAEMPRENDE)	Notice of cessation or merger to cancel the Aviso de Operación	30 days	Ley 5 de 2007 art. 12
Registro Público	Dissolution resolution (tasa única must be current)	Before cessation filings	Ley 32 de 1927 arts. 81 to 84

Closing filings in Panama.

Step by step

Fix the cessation date and close the books to that date.
Compute retained earnings and the dividend tax, distinguishing local from foreign source, export and exempt profits.
File the final return, final balance and retained earnings liquidation within 30 days and pay the tax.
Report the cessation in the RUC and notify PANAMAEMPRENDE within 30 days.
Keep paying the tasa única until the dissolution is registered.

Common traps

The 30 day final return deadline runs from the end of the business, not from the registration of the dissolution.
Dividend tax on retained earnings is due at closing even if the profits are never paid out in cash.
Assets transferred to shareholders in kind still trigger the retained earnings settlement.

Sources

← Letting a Panamanian company lapse: suspension of corporate rights and administrative dissolutionTaking money out before or at exit: dividend tax, the capital reduction rule and free repatriation →

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