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Who regulates what in Panama: a map of agencies for investors

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

Taxes sit with the Dirección General de Ingresos of the Ministerio de Economía y Finanzas, customs with the Autoridad Nacional de Aduanas, and companies with the Registro Público, which collects the first tasa única and suspends entities that breach their duties. The Ministerio de Comercio e Industrias runs PANAMAEMPRENDE for the Aviso de Operación, the Caja de Seguro Social collects social security, and the labor ministry fixes minimum wages by decree. Banks answer to the Superintendencia de Bancos, resident agents and other non financial obligated subjects to the Superintendencia de Sujetos no Financieros, suspicious transactions go to the Unidad de Análisis Financiero, competition and consumer cases to ACODECO and personal data complaints to ANTAI.

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

Key facts

Fine to reactivate a suspended legal entity	1000 PABCódigo Fiscal art. 318-A parágrafo 5, as of 2026-10-29 · in force
Days without resident agent before suspension	90 calendar daysCódigo Fiscal art. 318-A parágrafo 2, as of 2026-10-29 · in force

The rule

1. The tax administration consists of the tax administrative courts and the Dirección General de Ingresos, which applies the general anti avoidance clause and bears the burden of proving abuse.Ley 76 de 2019, Código de Procedimiento Tributario, arts. 6 numeral 1 and 20, 2019-02-13 official text · verified 2026-10-29

2. Social security contributions are collected in Panama by the Caja de Seguro Social.Ley 76 de 2019, Código de Procedimiento Tributario, art. 5, 2019-02-13 official text · verified 2026-10-29

3. The Autoridad Nacional de Aduanas is a public security institution with legal personality, its own assets and internal autonomy, with jurisdiction over the whole territory, subject to the policy of the Executive through the Ministerio de Economía y Finanzas.Decreto Ley 1 de 13 de febrero de 2008, art. 17, 2008-02-13 official text · verified 2026-10-29

4. The Registro Público collects the first tasa única with the registry fees and suspends the corporate rights of entities left without a resident agent for more than 90 calendar days, three years delinquent on the tasa única on the DGI's order, or in breach of laws imposing suspension; suspended entities have one year to reactivate with a B/.1,000 fine.
Cost to do it: Reactivation fine B/.1,000 (US$1,000).Código Fiscal art. 318-A as worded by Ley 52 de 2016 art. 9 and Ley 254 de 2021 art. 44, art. 318-A parágrafos 2, 4 and 5, 2021-11-11 official text · verified 2026-10-29

5. The Ministerio de Comercio e Industrias operates PANAMAEMPRENDE, the system through which the Aviso de Operación, a mandatory sworn declaration to start commercial or industrial activity, is filed.Ley 5 de 2007 as worded by Ley 2 de 2013, Ley 2 de 2013 arts. 2 and 3, 2013-02-06 official text · verified 2026-10-29

6. The Superintendencia de Sujetos no Financieros is an autonomous State body with legal personality and administrative, budgetary, financial and technical independence (Ley 124 art. 1). Its anti money laundering supervision covers, among others, lawyers who carry out supervised activities for clients, such as forming and administering legal persons or acting as resident agents (Ley 124 art. 40 as worded by Ley 254 de 2021 art. 26).Ley 124 de 7 de enero de 2020; Ley 254 de 2021 art. 26, Ley 124 arts. 1 and 40, 2021-11-11 official text · verified 2026-10-29

7. The anti money laundering coordination system includes the Comisión Nacional contra el Blanqueo de Capitales and the Unidad de Análisis Financiero para la Prevención del Blanqueo de Capitales y Financiamiento del Terrorismo.Ley 23 de 27 de abril de 2015, art. 5, 2015-04-27 official text · verified 2026-10-29

8. The Superintendencia de Bancos was created by Decreto Ley 9 of 26 February 1998, which gave banking supervision a regulator with clear powers and administrative and financial autonomy; it also states that the official currency is the balboa, at par with the US dollar.Decreto Ley 9 de 26 de febrero de 1998 (as described by the Superintendencia de Bancos), Historical review, 1998-02-26 official text · verified 2026-10-29

9. The Autoridad de Protección al Consumidor y Defensa de la Competencia (ACODECO) is a decentralized public entity with its own legal personality, internal autonomy and independence in exercising its functions under the consumer protection and competition law.Ley 45 de 31 de octubre de 2007, art. 84, 2007-10-31 official text · verified 2026-10-29

10. If a data controller does not answer a data subject's request in time, the data subject may go to the Autoridad Nacional de Transparencia y Acceso a la Información (ANTAI), which may request information and carry out verifications; subjects regulated by special laws go first to their own regulator.Ley 81 de 26 de marzo de 2019, sobre protección de datos personales, art. 18, 2019-03-26 official text · verified 2026-10-29

11. Minimum wage rates for the whole country are fixed by executive decree of the Ministerio de Trabajo y Desarrollo Laboral; the current decree is Decreto Ejecutivo 13 de 31 de diciembre de 2025.Decreto Ejecutivo 13 de 31 de diciembre de 2025, Whole decree, 2025-12-31 official text · verified 2026-10-29

Area	Authority	Founding or governing norm	See
Taxes	Dirección General de Ingresos (MEF)	Ley 76 de 2019	Taxes
Customs	Autoridad Nacional de Aduanas	Decreto Ley 1 de 2008	Trade and customs
Company registry	Registro Público de Panamá	Ley 32 de 1927; Código Fiscal art. 318-A	Entities and setup
Starting activity	Ministerio de Comercio e Industrias (PANAMAEMPRENDE)	Ley 5 de 2007; Ley 2 de 2013	Entities and setup
Social security	Caja de Seguro Social	Ley 51 de 2005; Ley 462 de 2025	Labor
Minimum wage and labor	Ministerio de Trabajo y Desarrollo Laboral	Código de Trabajo; Decreto Ejecutivo 13 de 2025	Labor
Banks	Superintendencia de Bancos	Decreto Ley 9 de 1998	FX and finance
Resident agents and non financial AML	Superintendencia de Sujetos no Financieros	Ley 124 de 2020	Entities and setup
Financial intelligence	Unidad de Análisis Financiero	Ley 23 de 2015	Regulation
Competition and consumers	ACODECO	Ley 45 de 2007	Regulation
Personal data	ANTAI	Ley 81 de 2019	Regulation

Main Panamanian authorities for a foreign investor

Worked example

A logistics company importing goods into Panama deals with the Autoridad Nacional de Aduanas at the border, the DGI for income tax and ITBMS, the Registro Público for its corporate filings, PANAMAEMPRENDE for its Aviso de Operación, the Caja de Seguro Social for payroll contributions and its bank's compliance team, which applies Ley 23 de 2015 under Superintendencia de Bancos supervision.

Step by step

Map which authorities touch your activity using the table.
Confirm whether your activity needs a sector license or supervision (banking, securities, insurance, energy) before filing the Aviso de Operación.
Keep your resident agent informed: it is your link to the Registro Público, the DGI tasa única process and the beneficial ownership registry.

Common traps

Losing your resident agent for more than 90 calendar days triggers suspension at the Registro Público.
Regulated businesses (for example banks) take data protection complaints first to their own regulator, not to ANTAI.
The DGI, not the Registro Público, orders suspension for unpaid tasa única.

Sources

← Tax and compliance calendar for a company in PanamaReform tracker: what changed in Panamanian business law in 2025 and 2026 and what starts in 2027 →

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