Panama Panama 
Panama's territorial tax system has made it a long-standing base for international companies. We take care of the setup and stay with you for the annual obligations, accounting records, secretarial matters, and company documents that follow.
Expanship is an independent corporate services provider, not a government agency, and is not affiliated with the Government of the Republic of Panama or the Public Registry of Panama. We advise, prepare, and coordinate on your behalf; those authorities alone decide what they approve.
The Jurisdiction
Panama is a civil law country in the Spanish tradition: the rules are in the code rather than in accumulated precedent, and the corporation law is Law 32 of 1927, still in force as amended. Nearly a century of practice has been built on the same statute, and the final word belongs to the Supreme Court of Justice in Panama City.
The United States dollar circulates as legal tender alongside the balboa, which is itself fixed at parity, so the company's accounts need no translation. There are no exchange controls and funds move in and out without a permit.
The share register is held by your resident agent and a transfer of shares is never filed publicly, so ownership changes leave no public trace. Directors and officers are different: they are named in the incorporation deed, which is recorded publicly and can be consulted by anyone.
The local presence is a resident agent and a registered office. Panamanian law requires the resident agent to be a Panamanian attorney or law firm, which is why the role is not something a company can hold for itself. No resident director is required.
The Annual Franchise Tax of US$300 to the Dirección General de Ingresos, due 15 January or 15 July depending on which half of the year the company was formed in. Accounting records delivered to your resident agent by 30 April. There is no annual return, no substance declaration and no accounts on public file.
Our services
Our Panama services, arranged by the kind of work. Every link opens the full page for that service.
The company
Formed once by a public deed prepared with our team and a resident agent, whichever structure you choose, then maintained by us through each year's obligations.
Overview
The entity
Existing company
After incorporation
Pricing
Overview
Annual filings
The record
Pricing
On the ground
On the board
On the share register
Our assessment of Panama on twenty measures across five categories, each scored out of ten, alongside what the international bodies that review the country currently record.
Privacy & Confidentiality
Average 7.0
Banking & Financial
Average 8.3
Regulatory & Compliance
Average 6.9
Business Environment
Average 8.6
International Recognition
Average 7.6
Panama scores 7.7 overall
Panama
What the beneficial ownership register holds, who is allowed to see it, and what leaves the jurisdiction automatically each year.
How readily international banks open and hold accounts for entities formed here, and how freely money moves once they do.
The governing law, the bodies that supervise it, and where the jurisdiction sits on the international tax and transparency regimes.
What it takes to form and run an entity here: how fast, what it is taxed, and how stable the law behind it has proved.
How the jurisdiction is regarded outside its own borders, and how far its treaty and trade arrangements actually reach.
Start your company
One engagement, one fee. Law 32 of 1927 attaches two appointments for the life of the corporation, with two further arrangements at your option.
One legal structure in Panama, and every piece of work between your enquiry and the day the corporation exists.
Panama General Corporation Law, Law 32 of 1927 (as amended)
Already have a Panama company with another agent? Bring it to us for US$350, one time. Its number, its date and its contracts do not change. About transferring your company
The Public Registry of Panama does not accept applications from the public: the filing must be made by a resident agent. Expanship is not a government agency and is not that agent — we prepare and check your file and instruct that provider to file it, and the decision, with its timing, rests with the authority.
Law 32 requires a resident agent and a registered office in Panama for as long as the corporation exists. The first year of both is inside the incorporation fee; they renew annually thereafter.
Appointment A
Law 32 of 1927 requires every corporation to keep a resident agent, and Panamanian law reserves the role to a Panamanian attorney or law firm registered with the SSNF. We arrange the appointment and work alongside it, so what the authorities send reaches you.
About resident agentsAppointment B
An address in Panama City that stands as your corporation’s domicile on the public record. Legal notices and government correspondence are received there and forwarded on.
About the registered officeA governance decision taken at formation, not an extra bought afterwards. In Panama the directors and officers are named in the public deed while the shareholders are not, so the two arrangements answer different questions.
On the board
On the share register
A bank will only open an account for a corporation that already exists, so this step follows the incorporation. Assisted onboarding with a digital provider comes with every incorporation package; applications to Panamanian and international banks are arranged on their own.
Commonly opened with Panamanian banks, international banks, digital providers, the dollar is legal tender and there are no exchange controls, so a Panama account needs no currency arrangement.
Ongoing compliance
A Panama corporation is formed once and maintained for as long as you own it. Its year has two obligations, the franchise tax and the accounting records, and both sit inside one annual package.
The one document that leaves your company on a date Panama sets. It is drafted from records we already hold, sent to you for a single approval, and handed to your resident agent.
The one service with no filing date attached to it, because it is the thing the declaration above draws on. Kept month by month, so the figures already exist on the day they are needed.
Accounting and bookkeeping Transactions recorded, accounts reconciled and financial statements kept current, with the supporting documents retained for the five years Panamanian law expects.Why Expanship
A Panama company owes a franchise tax and an accounting records declaration each year. The team that set it up handles both, with the books and the local address, under one price agreed first.
What every engagement includes
Setup, the local presence and the year’s filings in one figure. Nothing added mid-way.
One person who knows your file and answers for it, not a ticket queue.
What we need from you, and what happens next, set out before the work starts.
Franchise tax, records declaration, ownership and the books, by the team that set it up.
Onboarding to signing, all online. No trip to Panama unless the law demands one.
Strict security protocols and professional confidentiality throughout the process.
FAQ
The jurisdiction first, then the practical side of forming and keeping a corporation there.
Civil law in the Spanish tradition, with the rules set out in the code rather than in precedent. The corporation statute is Law 32 of 1927, still in force as amended, and the final word belongs to the Supreme Court of Justice in Panama City.
Panama taxes only income earned inside Panama. Foreign-sourced income is outside the charge wherever the corporation is managed, there is no capital gains tax on foreign investments, and no withholding tax on dividends paid from foreign-sourced profits. The corporation pays an annual franchise tax of US$300 instead.
Panama is on the EU's Annex I list of non-cooperative jurisdictions over tax governance criteria, which some European counterparties treat as a reason for extra due diligence. It was removed from FATF increased monitoring in October 2023, and its OECD Global Forum review is under way.
The directors and officers, because they are named in the deed of incorporation, which is a public document. Shareholders are not. The share record is held by the resident agent, and a transfer of shares is never filed publicly.
Yes. A foreigner can own all the shares and sit on the board, and no resident director is required. The resident agent must be a Panamanian attorney or law firm, which is the one role the corporation cannot fill for itself.
No. Expanship is a privately owned corporate services company. We are not a government agency, registry, or regulator, and we are not affiliated with, endorsed by, or acting on behalf of the Government of the Republic of Panama or the Public Registry of Panama. Company registrations, certificates, and registry documents are issued solely by those authorities, at their discretion. Our fee is for our own work; government fees are set by those authorities and not by us.
No. The Public Registry of Panama does not accept incorporation filings from the public — the filing must be made by a resident agent. Engaging a provider is therefore a requirement of local law rather than a shortcut past something you could do yourself. Expanship prepares and checks your file and instructs that provider to make the filing; the decision, and its timing, rest with the authority.
Yes. The only local presence is the resident agent and registered office, which we arrange. Directors and shareholders can be anywhere, meetings can be held abroad, and nothing obliges the corporation to take premises or employ anyone in Panama.
Yes, and abroad. Panamanian banks, international banks and digital providers all open accounts for Panama corporations. The dollar is legal tender and there are no exchange controls, so no currency arrangement is needed. We prepare the file and the bank decides.
Formation packages start from US$1,499, including the government filing fees, the first year of resident agent and registered office, and the company documents. The annual package, covering the franchise tax and the accounting records, starts from US$1,099 a year. Government fees are shown separately.
Contact Us
A new corporation, a foundation, or the annual obligations of one you already own. Send us the outline and a Panama advisor will respond.
