Property tax in Panama
See what Panama's tax rules do to your property portfolio.
What Freeholt models for property, income and retirement in Panama, and what it does not.
Free to start. No card. Rules reviewed 2 July 2026.
Modelled here
- Tax on rental income
- Capital gains on a sale
- Duty on purchase
- Annual property or land tax
USD · Rates as at 2 July 2026 · Estimates, not advice
TERRITORIAL. Foreign income is untaxed. Panamanian rent is taxed progressively to 25%; sale gains 10% (or elect the 3% advance on price as final). Qualified Investor visa: USD 300k real estate (window to Oct 2026).
How rental income is taxed in Panama
For a resident owner: Progressive rates from 15% to 25%, stacked on other income in this country. The top rate of 25% applies above $50,000. For an owner living abroad and renting this out: Progressive rates from 15% to 25%, stacked on other income in this country. The top rate of 25% applies above $50,000.
Interest and losses
Mortgage interest is deductible against the rent. A rental loss is ring fenced: it carries forward against future rental income rather than reducing other income now.
Capital gains on a sale
Gains are taxed at a flat 10%. 3% of the SALE PRICE is withheld at settlement. It is a credit against the bill, not an extra tax, but it is cash the seller does not get on the day.
Annual property tax while holding
About 0.6% a year on the property value.
What it costs to buy
About 2% of the price on purchase. Transfer tax 2% (+ the seller's 3% advance CGT). New construction property tax exonerations are often grandfathered.
Can a foreign buyer purchase here?
Foreign buyers can generally buy residential property here. No restrictions on foreign buyers (islands/border strips excepted). USD 300k Qualified Investor visa window runs to Oct 2026.
A territorial system
Panama taxes income arising here, not worldwide income, so property held in other countries is generally outside its net. That makes the country of residence a bigger lever than usual.
How Freeholt models Panama
Every rate above is priced from Freeholt's own table for Panama and runs through the whole projection: rental income, a modelled sale and the annual holding costs all use the same figures. They cannot be edited yet, so a position that differs from the defaults has to be read with that in mind. The estimate assumes an individual owner rather than a company or trust, and where a rule is not modelled it is listed below rather than quietly priced at zero.
What running this property costs
In Panama this covers property tax (0.5 to 1% above exemptions; primary homes exempt to USD 120k), condo fees, insurance and management. Dollarised.
How borrowing works here
Local USD mortgages are available to foreigners (~6 to 8%); interest abono programs favour new builds.
What actually happened here
This country's own record, one year at a time. Nothing on this page is borrowed from another country. Move across a chart to read a year.
What Freeholt models here
- ModelledTax on rental income
- Resident and non resident rates, with interest and losses treated under the local rule.
- ModelledCapital gains on a sale
- Priced in the year of the sale under the rules of that year.
- ModelledDuty on purchase
- One off, on the way in, at the scale in force.
- ModelledAnnual property or land tax
- Charged every year the property is held.
- Not yetIncome tax beyond the rent
- Not modelled for this country yet.
- Not yetDividends, interest and share sales
- Not modelled for this country yet.
- Not yetRetirement savings
- Not modelled for this country yet.
- Not yetInheritance and what happens on death
- Not modelled for this country yet.
What Freeholt does not model here
- Inheritance and estate tax
- Treaty relief between this country and the owner's country of residence
Coverage deepens country by country. Every figure is an estimate, not advice.
Compare with another country
Each page is built from the same table the app runs on, so the figures line up side by side.
Compare Panama with another country — rent, gains, annual tax and duty, side by side.
Questions people ask
- Does Freeholt model Panama property tax?
- Yes. Rental income tax, capital gains on a sale, duty on purchase and annual property or land tax are priced from Freeholt's own rate table for Panama. The rates are not editable yet, so one that differs in a particular case cannot be overridden. Every figure is an estimate, not advice.
- How is rental income from Panama taxed if I live somewhere else?
- Progressive rates from 15% to 25%, stacked on other income in this country. The top rate of 25% applies above $50,000. Tax may also be due in the country of residence, with credit for what was paid here. Estimates only, not advice.
- What are the Panama figures as at?
- The rate table for Panama was last reviewed on 2 July 2026. Freeholt date stamps every country rather than implying all of them were checked on the same day. Estimates only, not advice.
Model a property in Panama alongside everything else you own: see the year your portfolio starts paying you back.