Panama
| Pros |
|---|
| Territorial taxation system exempting foreign-source income from local levies. |
| Official use of the US Dollar ensuring monetary stability and preventing local currency devaluation. |
| World-class logistics infrastructure and strategic geographic position for global trade operations. |
| Cons |
|---|
| Persistent systemic corruption within the judicial and administrative branches of government. |
| Complex banking regulations due to international pressure and inclusion on various financial grey lists. |
| Significant bureaucratic hurdles and slow administrative processes for business licensing and permits. |
Long story short: Here, your foreign income never gets taxed, a genuine fiscal open bar if you structure your company right. But setting one up takes patience: the administration drags its feet, corruption still greases plenty of paperwork, and banks put you through an FBI-style interrogation before opening an account.
The canal keeps the economy humming, the capital's skyline rivals Miami's, the food mixes fresh ceviche with American burgers, beaches and jungle sit an hour away, and in the wealthy neighborhoods, you live safe and easy.
Will your income be taxed?
Long story short: YES, A LOT.
On paper, Panama shears you at up to 25%. In practice, the territorial regime only bites income sourced locally: foreign salary, foreign dividends, foreign gains walk through untouched. The sticker is there to scare; the machinery doesn't reach that far.
Earn your living abroad and the local taxman mostly waves at you from a distance.
If you earn a year, you will pay .
Roughly effective, with a marginal rate of .
Will your wealth be taxed?
Long story short: YES, BUT LIGHTLY.
Panama takes a light trim on capital gains (10% at the top), with no annual wealth levy and no inheritance regime.
Your portfolio compounds with barely any friction; the state only shows its face when you sell. And even then, politely.
Easy to run a company there?
Long story short: NO.
Corporate tax in Panama is 25%, no IP-box mercy, VAT at 7 on top.
Operationally, running a company here is fine; fiscally, the state helps itself to a fat slice of every unit of profit. You do the work, they skim the cream.
A good fit for a holding?
Long story short: YES.
Panama pairs a moderate treaty network (18 signed) with a full participation exemption (100% on qualifying dividends and gains).
A perfectly honest holding base: not the NL/LU/SG first division on treaty count, but the pipes don't leak.
| Country | Status | Dividends | Interest | Royalties |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| ∅ // no treaties match | ||||
Easy to come and go?
Long story short: LITTLE.
Coming and going from Panama costs you nothing worth mentioning. Territorial regime (foreign income stays foreign), no exit tax at the door.
You show up with your stuff, you leave with your stuff, plus whatever you earned abroad in between. Borders the way they should all work.
Is your money watched?
Long story short: YES, CLOSELY.
Yes, your money is watched here. Panama signed every major automatic-exchange framework: CRS, FATCA, CARF, MLI, MAAC. Open an account and it gets reported straight to your home tax authority (Americans: FATCA applies, no exceptions).
Corporate registries stay non-public, which saves a thin slice of ownership discretion. But your financial trail is made of glass.
Is it blacklisted?
Long story short: YES.
Panama stacks the EU non-cooperative list on top of national blacklists. Counterparties routinely fire anti-abuse rules, jack up withholding, or refuse the deal entirely, and the EU layer makes the friction automatic across the whole bloc.
The jurisdiction itself is the risk; the substance of what you do there is a footnote.
Do you feel free there?
Long story short: PARTLY.
Panama sits in the middle band of the RSF press-freedom index (rank #53): civil society functions, but the walls are real and you'll learn fast where they stand.
Crypto lives in the standard regulated tier.
Connected to the world?
Long story short: POORLY CONNECTED.
The two rails that matter are both dead in Panama. Stripe won't onboard you, so card payments mean a foreign structure or a local processor with its own rules. Amazon doesn't deliver either.
Some secondary services run (4/11), but for an online business this is swimming against the current.
Other jurisdictions worth comparing
Picked by similarity of strategic profile to Panama. No editorial ranking — neighbours in the same scoring space.