Panama VAT registration threshold
Panama VAT registration threshold is 36000 PAB, in force since 1 Jul 2010. Last checked against the official source on 10 Aug 2026.
The turnover at which ITBMS taxpayer status becomes compulsory in Panama, with the period the test runs over, the rule for non-established suppliers, and any separate treatment of imported digital services.
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What this value means
PERIOD BASIS: the PREVIOUS year, on a dual cumulative test — average monthly gross income ≤ B/.3,000 AND annual gross income ≤ B/.36,000 (balboa at par and interchangeable with USD). Exceeding EITHER limb in a year makes the person a contribuyente for the FOLLOWING year: registration, 7% ITBMS on invoices, and the monthly declaración jurada (form 430) with payment by the 15th of the following month. 'Ingreso bruto' is TOTAL income, not taxable income — exempt turnover counts toward both limbs. Suppliers below the line can obtain a Certificado de No-Contribuyente (procedure of Resolución 201-1181 de 9-4-2008) so business customers do not withhold ITBMS from them. One of the few genuine VAT thresholds in Central America. NON-ESTABLISHED SUPPLIERS: nil threshold, enforced by withholding rather than registration. Under the ITBMS retención regime (Decreto Ejecutivo 84 de 2005 as extended in 2015-2016; DGI form-433 guidance), whoever pays 'retribuciones por operaciones gravadas realizadas por personas naturales domiciliadas o entidades constituidas en el exterior' without a Panamanian branch, agency or establishment must withhold 100% of the ITBMS: the invoiced price is deemed tax-inclusive, the tax computed with the 7/107 coefficient, and remitted to the DGI within ten days of the retention. The B/.36,000 small-taxpayer exemption never protects a non-domiciled supplier, and there is no registration mechanism for one. IMPORTED DIGITAL SERVICES: no non-resident digital regime as of 2026-08 — no registration, platform rules or card-issuer collection. B2B payments abroad for digital/remote services used in Panama fall under the 100% withholding above; B2C purchases by Panamanian consumers from foreign platforms go uncollected in practice (recurrent bills to tax foreign platforms have not been enacted). Traps: (1) TWO cumulative limbs on last year's figures — a trader can clear B/.36,000 annually yet have breached the B/.3,000 monthly average (or vice-versa); test both. (2) Gross, not net or taxable: exempt sales count toward the limits. (3) The exemption removes contribuyente status for domestic supplies only — the same small trader still pays ITBMS at customs on imports of goods. (4) effective_from 1-7-2010 is the entry into force of Ley 8 de 2010's ITBMS package (the last substantive rewrite of art. 1057-V, which also brought professional services into scope — pre-2010 guidance excluding professionals is stale); the B/.36,000 figure itself originates in Ley 6 de 2005, whose precise commencement day was not pinned this session. (5) Do not conflate the NON-DOMICILED 100% withholding with the separate 50% withholding that the State and designated large purchasers/card processors apply to domestic suppliers' invoiced ITBMS. (6) An exempt small supplier who invoices ITBMS anyway owes what it charged — the certificate matters.
Get it programmatically
curl https://latamref.dev/v1/pa/vat-registration-threshold
# $0.005 per call — x402 on Base (USDC). No key, no signup.
# History: curl https://latamref.dev/v1/pa/vat-registration-threshold/history?from=2020-01-01
# Provenance: curl https://latamref.dev/provenance/pa/vat-registration-thresholdOther Panama series: Monetary policy rate · ITBMS (VAT) standard rate · Minimum wage (lowest general statutory floor) · National public holidays · CPI inflation (year-over-year) · Corporate income tax (ISR personas jurídicas) · Withholding tax rates · Statutory legal interest (interés legal) · Personal income tax (ISR personas naturales) · Statutory social-insurance contributions
The same figure elsewhere: Paraguay · Peru · Trinidad and Tobago · Uruguay · Argentina · all 22