{"id":12888,"date":"2026-04-25T19:25:00","date_gmt":"2026-04-26T00:25:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/expat-times.com\/panama\/?p=12888"},"modified":"2026-04-25T11:26:42","modified_gmt":"2026-04-25T16:26:42","slug":"can-panama-keep-its-tax-system-and-still-join-the-oecd","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/expat-times.com\/panama\/news\/can-panama-keep-its-tax-system-and-still-join-the-oecd\/","title":{"rendered":"Can Panama Keep Its Tax System and Still Join the OECD"},"content":{"rendered":"

Panama City, Panama \u2013 April 25, 2026. The administration of President Jos\u00e9 Ra\u00fal Mulino has formally signaled its intent to join the OECD<\/a>. The first step was signing a Memorandum of Understanding for technical collaboration on data exchange and policy evaluation. But the path to full membership remains long and contentious.<\/p>\n

Becoming a member of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development has taken other nations between six and twenty years. Colombia\u2019s journey serves as a recent example of the lengthy process. At the Annual Conference of Business Executives, known as CADE, a panel of experts debated the potential benefits against the serious risks.<\/p>\n

Panelists included Amauri Castillo, former Superintendent of Banks, and Dulcidio De La Guardia, former Minister of Economy and Finance. Lawyers Adolfo Linares and Hellen Seixas also joined the discussion, alongside David Saied, director at PricewaterhouseCoopers. The central question revolved around whether Panama must abandon its Territorial tax system<\/a> in favor of a worldwide income model.<\/p>\n

\"Tax<\/p>\n

Experts Clash Over Tax System Requirements<\/h2>\n

Hellen Seixas, a lawyer with KPMG, directly challenged a common assumption. She argued it is false that the OECD demands Panama eliminate its territorial fiscal system. Seixas stated that requiring \u201cgreater levels of substance\u201d does not automatically mean taxing foreign-source income. This clarification, she said, could allow Panama to \u201cleave the European Union\u2019s list of non-cooperative countries almost immediately or in the short term.\u201d [Translated from Spanish]<\/p>\n

\u201cThis represents an opportunity for Panama. It would strengthen the economy by demanding greater physical presence and real functions in the country, such as hiring more personnel and making effective decisions here.\u201d [Translated from Spanish] – Hellen Seixas, KPMG lawyer<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Dulcidio De La Guardia offered a stark warning about the financial burden. He pointed out that the Government of Panama<\/a> has not presented evidence of the true costs. \u201cThe government has not presented that evidence to the country,\u201d he said. [Translated from Spanish] He insisted on a feasibility study before any final decision.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe costs must be assumed first. The OECD will not allow you to be a member of the club until you have complied with all the regulatory changes,\u201d De La Guardia warned. [Translated from Spanish] He referenced the long adjustment periods experienced by Costa Rica and Colombia. He acknowledged there are benefits but stressed the government must \u201cpresent the country with a serious study.\u201d [Translated from Spanish]<\/p>\n

Defending Sovereignty and Seeking a Middle Ground<\/h2>\n

Adolfo Linares took a more critical stance against international bodies. He insisted Panama does not have special regimes but a legitimate territorial system. \u201cEurope wants to impose standards and fiscal policies that do not fit the reality of countries like Panama,\u201d Linares said. [Translated from Spanish] He argued Panama must defend its fiscal sovereignty and find \u201ca relationship between equals, not as if we were still vassals of the Europeans.\u201d [Translated from Spanish]<\/p>\n

David Saied from PricewaterhouseCoopers offered a more pragmatic view. He agreed the adoption of OECD norms will be difficult. However, he suggested that digitalization and new technologies can reduce transaction costs. Saied believes Panama can \u201creach a middle ground\u201d where it does not lose competitiveness but gains new business avenues.<\/p>\n

The panelists agreed that the debate over this process<\/a> will extend beyond the current administration. Amauri Castillo noted the issue will transcend to the next government. \u201cCertainly there is no magic recipe. I would even dare to say that we should not think joining the OECD is the solution to all problems,\u201d Castillo stated. [Translated from Spanish] The panel concluded that the business association APEDE could lead a cost-benefit study if the government does not. The discussion remains open with no clear consensus in sight.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Panama City, Panama \u2013 April 25, 2026. The administration of President Jos\u00e9 Ra\u00fal Mulino has formally signaled its intent to join the OECD. The first step was signing a Memorandum of Understanding for technical collaboration on data exchange and policy evaluation. But the path to full membership remains long and contentious. Becoming a member of<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12542,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sitemap_exclude":false,"_sitemap_priority":"","_sitemap_frequency":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[28,30,87,29],"tags":[3938,3939,3937,3940,3105],"class_list":{"0":"post-12888","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news","8":"category-business-economy","9":"category-featured","10":"category-politics-government","11":"tag-fiscal-sovereignty","12":"tag-membership-sparks-debate-over","13":"tag-panama-oecd","14":"tag-panama-oecd-membership","15":"tag-territorial-tax"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/expat-times.com\/panama\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12888","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/expat-times.com\/panama\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/expat-times.com\/panama\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/expat-times.com\/panama\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/expat-times.com\/panama\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12888"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/expat-times.com\/panama\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12888\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12889,"href":"https:\/\/expat-times.com\/panama\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12888\/revisions\/12889"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/expat-times.com\/panama\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12542"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/expat-times.com\/panama\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12888"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/expat-times.com\/panama\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12888"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/expat-times.com\/panama\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12888"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}