Notas desde el istmo.
Mercado, zonas, inversión y vida cotidiana en Panamá. Sin postales: datos verificados, voces honestas y la lentitud necesaria para entender un país.
How foreign buyers actually hold property in Panama: corporations, fideicomisos, and the practical trade-offs
Foreign buyers in metropolitan Panama City rarely hold property in their own name. Three legal vehicles dominate the choice. Here is how they differ in liability, succession, and the recurring costs most attorneys do not surface upfront.
Panama lobbies Sweden to exit the EU's tax non-cooperation list. For European property buyers, the listing is the hidden friction tax.
Panama's foreign minister is in Stockholm pressing Sweden for support on removal from the EU tax non-cooperation list. For European buyers in metro Panama City, the listing's cost shows up in wire queues, due-diligence, and notary disclosures.
Panama's four residency pathways for foreign property buyers, ranked by what each one demands
Friendly Nations, Pensionado, Qualified Investor, Reforestation: each pathway puts a different floor under the real estate decision in metropolitan Panama City.
How property is held in Panama: personal name, corporation, foundation, or trust
Before a foreign buyer in Costa del Este or Punta Pacífica agrees on a price, one decision is already waiting: whose name goes on the title. The four ways to hold Panama City property, and what each one really costs after a decade of transparency reform.
The four ways foreigners get Panama residency in 2026, ranked by tradeoffs
Panama still runs four practical residency routes for foreigners: Friendly Nations, Pensionado, Qualified Investor and Reforestation. The minimums, timelines and one looming deadline matter most once you map them onto Panama City property.
Panama's OECD accession bid and the slow unwinding of the anonymous sociedad anónima
A May 17 interview sketched a 12-24 month timeline for Panama to require direct registration of beneficial owners behind every sociedad anónima with the country's tax authority. For foreign metro property owners, the privacy era of the corporate-veiled deed is closing.
Panama's four residency paths for foreign buyers, ranked by metropolitan property exposure
Four legal routes deliver Panama residency to foreigners. Three of them shape the metropolitan property market — and one of them resets to a higher price on October 15, 2026.
Panama's economic substance bill enters debate. What it means for foreign owners holding metro property through a sociedad anónima
The National Assembly opens debate May 19 on a bill that conditions tax treatment of passive foreign income on real economic presence in Panama. Foreign owners using anonymous corporations as personal holding vehicles sit close to the perimeter.
How property is held in Panama: direct title, corporations, fideicomisos and foreign LLCs
Most foreign buyers default to titling Panama property in their personal name. The other three structures available each trade a different set of costs for a different set of protections.
Panama's Economic Substance bill reached the Assembly floor. Metro property has more at stake than most assume.
On May 11 the National Assembly opened debate on the bill that conditions Panama's path off the EU's tax-jurisdiction list. The implications for Costa del Este, Punta Pacífica and foreign-buyer banking are concrete.