Regime Law: Recent Amendments
recent changes in order to enhance the
advantages offered to multinational
headquarters for establishing and operating
offices in Panama. The government, by the
publication of Official Gazette No. 28641
on the 25th of October 2018, has enacted
Law 57 of 2018 to amend Law 41 of 2007,
which created a special regime for the
establishment and operations of offices of
multinational headquarters and created
the Commission of Offices of Multinational
Headquarters. These amendments consist
of adding several provisions enhancing the
scope of their activities and making their
operations more competitive and attractive,
and went into effect in January 2019.
follows:
4 of Article 4 of Law 41 of 2007 are
extended to the provision of technical
and financial assistance and other kinds
of support to legal entities of the same
enterprise group, including, without
limitation, financial management
services, risk analysis, due diligence
compliance, custody and filing
documentation, document and data
processing center, treasury services
and loans between entities of the same
group.
a multinational legal headquarters
establishing an office in Panamanian
territory is to provide services to the
enterprise group to which it belongs.
12 of Law 41 of 2007, the following
are the parameters required to be
considered by the Commission for
Offices of Multinational Headquarters
in order to grant the License of Office of
Multinational Legal Headquarters:
engaging in;
operation expenses of the Office of
the Multinational Headquarters in
in accordance with the nature of the
business it is to engage in; and
may only engage in activities that
render income subject to the fiscal
provisions of Law 41 of 2007.
following modifications are stipulated:
Office of Multinational Headquarters
shall be five percent.
income deducting expenses incurred
in salaries and remunerations of all
of its employees, including those
employees who are exempt from
income tax.
taxable income earned in the
Republic of Panama for services
provided to non-residents, as well
as taxes retained by taxpayers of
the Republic of Panama since that
income tax may be credited to its
income tax.
Headquarters shall have to pay at
least 2 percent of the income tax, but
the credits may not be applicable to
other subsequent fiscal periods and
are not to be reimbursed.
that increase the profitability of
the commercial operations of the
Quijano & Associates. Her practice focuses
on immigration, commercial law, labor law,
litigation and intellectual property.
Salduba Building, Third Floor
East 53rd Street, Urbanización Marbella
Panama City, Panama
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