Business Law · EN
Panama Business License (Aviso de Operaciones): Cost and Process.
What foreigners call a Panama business license is officially the Aviso de Operaciones: a sworn declaration, not a discretionary permit. What it costs, how the online filing works, what it connects you to, and how to keep it current.
For any foreign investor setting up a commercial presence in Panama, one of the first legal requirements is what is commonly called a Panama business license — officially the Aviso de Operaciones, literally a "notice of operations". It is not a license in the strict sense: it is a sworn declaration by which a business notifies the State that it will begin commercial or industrial activity. Once the electronic system confirms it, it has the force of a public document. There is no discretionary approval and no waiting for an inspector: the filing itself is the authorization.
The rule comes from Law 5 of January 11, 2007, which abolished the old commercial license and replaced it with this single notification.
What it costs
Panama uses the US dollar as its circulating currency and the balboa (B/.) is fixed at par with it, so B/. 1 = US$1 and every figure below can be read directly in dollars.
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Filing fee — individual (persona natural) | B/. 15.00 (US$15), paid once |
| Filing fee — company (persona jurídica) | B/. 55.00 (US$55), paid once |
| Annual Aviso de Operaciones tax | 2% of declared capital, minimum B/. 100 and maximum B/. 60,000 per year |
The annual tax is a national tax under article 1004 of the Fiscal Code and is separate from the municipal tax owed to the district where the business operates. Free-zone companies, including the Colón Free Zone, are on a different and lower rate.
How the filing works
The Ministry of Commerce and Industries (MICI) administers the Aviso de Operaciones exclusively through the Panamá Emprende platform (panamaemprende.gob.pa). There is no in-person alternative for an ordinary filing. You open an account, declare the company's details and its intended activities under oath, and pay the fee. The system then does three things at once: it issues the notice, it registers you automatically for a RUC (Registro Único de Contribuyentes — Panama's taxpayer number) with the tax authority, and it notifies the municipality where you will operate.
Two things decide whether the filing goes smoothly. The first is the exact address of the establishment. The second is the description of the activity, because it determines whether your business needs a sector authorization before you can file at all — banking, insurance, securities, pharmacies, travel agencies, transport, private security and liquor sales are among the activities that do. Declaring an activity you are not entitled to carry on is not a clerical slip: the notice is a sworn declaration, and a false one carries liability.
There is also a limit that catches foreign investors by surprise: retail trade is reserved by article 293 of the Constitution to Panamanians. Wholesale, industrial and service activities are open to foreigners, with or without residency; selling to the end consumer is not.
Anyone can check a notice, free
Panamá Emprende publishes a free public search at panamaemprende.gob.pa/consulta-publica-new — no account needed. You can look up a business by trade name, by company name or owner, by cédula or RUC, or by notice number, and see whether its notice is live or cancelled. It is the quickest way to verify a Panamanian counterparty before you sign anything.
Keeping it current
Once issued, the ongoing duty is to keep the registered information true. A change of address, a change or addition of activity, a new trade name or a change in declared capital all have to be updated through the platform. The notice is also personal and non-transferable: buying or leasing a going business does not let you inherit its notice, and you must file your own.
Operating without a valid notice, or on outdated information, exposes the business to fines of B/. 500 to B/. 10,000 (US$500 to US$10,000) and to temporary or permanent closure of the establishment by MICI.
Closing down needs its own steps: cancelling the notice on Panamá Emprende is free and does not require a lawyer, but it does not close the file with the municipality, nor does it suspend the RUC. Until the RUC is suspended with the tax authority, the annual income-tax return remains due even though the business no longer trades.
For the full Spanish-language treatment — the complete list of regulated sectors, the free-zone regime and the legal sources — see our guía del Aviso de Operaciones. Our firm can handle the filing and the initial structuring of your company; see our corporate services for more detail.