Panama Economy Profile - Doing Business 2020

Page created by Willard Davis
 
CONTINUE READING
Panama Economy Profile - Doing Business 2020
Doing Business 2020   Panama

                               Economy Profile
                                Panama

                                                 Page 1
Panama Economy Profile - Doing Business 2020
Doing Business 2020                 Panama

                                                       Economy Profile of Panama
                                                    Doing Business 2020 Indicators
                                               (in order of appearance in the document)

Starting a business                     Procedures, time, cost and paid-in minimum capital to start a limited liability company

Dealing with construction permits       Procedures, time and cost to complete all formalities to build a warehouse and the quality control and safety
                                        mechanisms in the construction permitting system

Getting electricity                     Procedures, time and cost to get connected to the electrical grid, and the reliability of the electricity supply and the
                                        transparency of tariffs

Registering property                    Procedures, time and cost to transfer a property and the quality of the land administration system

Getting credit                          Movable collateral laws and credit information systems

Protecting minority investors           Minority shareholders’ rights in related-party transactions and in corporate governance

Paying taxes                            Payments, time, total tax and contribution rate for a firm to comply with all tax regulations as well as postfiling
                                        processes

Trading across borders                  Time and cost to export the product of comparative advantage and import auto parts

Enforcing contracts                     Time and cost to resolve a commercial dispute and the quality of judicial processes

Resolving insolvency                    Time, cost, outcome and recovery rate for a commercial insolvency and the strength of the legal framework for
                                        insolvency

Employing workers                       Flexibility in employment regulation and redundancy cost

                                                                                                                                                                   Page 2
Doing Business 2020                         Panama

About Doing Business

The Doing Business project provides objective measures of business regulations and their enforcement across 190 economies and selected cities at the subnational and
regional level.

The Doing Business project, launched in 2002, looks at domestic small and medium-size companies and measures the regulations applying to them through their life
cycle.

Doing Business captures several important dimensions of the regulatory environment as it applies to local firms. It provides quantitative indicators on regulation for
starting a business, dealing with construction permits, getting electricity, registering property, getting credit, protecting minority investors, paying taxes, trading across
borders, enforcing contracts and resolving insolvency. Doing Business also measures features of employing workers. Although Doing Business does not present rankings
of economies on the employing workers indicators or include the topic in the aggregate ease of doing business score or ranking on the ease of doing business, it does
present the data for these indicators.

By gathering and analyzing comprehensive quantitative data to compare business regulation environments across economies and over time, Doing Business encourages
economies to compete towards more efficient regulation; offers measurable benchmarks for reform; and serves as a resource for academics, journalists, private sector
researchers and others interested in the business climate of each economy.

In addition, Doing Business offers detailed subnational studies, which exhaustively cover business regulation and reform in different cities and regions within a nation.
These studies provide data on the ease of doing business, rank each location, and recommend reforms to improve performance in each of the indicator areas. Selected
cities can compare their business regulations with other cities in the economy or region and with the 190 economies that Doing Business has ranked.

The first Doing Business study, published in 2003, covered 5 indicator sets and 133 economies. This year’s study covers 11 indicator sets and 190 economies. Most
indicator sets refer to a case scenario in the largest business city of each economy, except for 11 economies that have a population of more than 100 million as of 2013
(Bangladesh, Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Russian Federation and the United States) where Doing Business also collected data
for the second largest business city. The data for these 11 economies are a population-weighted average for the 2 largest business cities. The project has benefited from
feedback from governments, academics, practitioners and reviewers. The initial goal remains: to provide an objective basis for understanding and improving the
regulatory environment for business around the world.

To learn more about Doing Business please visit doingbusiness.org

                                                                                                                                                                                 Page 3
Doing Business 2020                                       Panama

        Ease of Doing Business in
                                                               Region                    Latin America & Caribbean                                         DB RANK                     DB SCORE
                  Panama
                                                               Income Category           High income

                                                               Population                4,176,873                                                             86                          66.6

                                                               City Covered              Panama City

Rankings on Doing Business topics - Panama

                                                                                               25

      51                                              51
                                                                                                                                                               59

                                                                            87                                         88
                             100
                                                                                                                                                                                                           113

                                                                                                                                                                                     141

                                                                                                                                            176

    Starting             Dealing                  Getting            Registering           Getting                Protecting               Paying           Trading               Enforcing              Resolving
       a                  with                   Electricity          Property             Credit                  Minority                Taxes            across                Contracts             Insolvency
    Business           Construction                                                                               Investors                                 Borders
                         Permits

Topic Scores

        92.0                   68.2                     83.5                65.2               80.0                     56.0                 46.7              85.5                   49.0                 39.5

      Starting a Business (rank)                                                   51     Getting Credit (rank)                                      25    Trading across Borders (rank)                          59
      Score of starting a business (0-100)                                       92.0     Score of getting credit (0-100)                           80.0   Score of trading across borders (0-100)               85.5
      Procedures (number)                                                           5     Strength of legal rights index (0-12)                       8    Time to export
      Time (days)                                                                   6     Depth of credit information index (0-8)                     8    Documentary compliance (hours)                          6
      Cost (number)                                                                5.8    Credit registry coverage (% of adults)                     0.0   Border compliance (hours)                              24
      Paid-in min. capital (% of income per capita)                                0.0    Credit bureau coverage (% of adults)                      77.0   Cost to export
                                                                                                                                                           Documentary compliance (USD)                           60
      Dealing with Construction Permits (rank)                                   100      Protecting Minority Investors (rank)                       88    Border compliance (USD)                               270
      Score of dealing with construction permits (0-100)                         68.2     Score of protecting minority investors (0-100)            56.0   Time to export
      Procedures (number)                                                          18     Extent of disclosure index (0-10)                          4.0   Documentary compliance (hours)                          6
      Time (days)                                                                105      Extent of director liability index (0-10)                  4.0   Border compliance (hours)                              24
      Cost (% of warehouse value)                                                  2.5    Ease of shareholder suits index (0-10)                     8.0   Cost to export
      Building quality control index (0-15)                                        9.0    Extent of shareholder rights index (0-6)                   6.0   Documentary compliance (USD)                           50
                                                                                          Extent of ownership and control index (0-7)                1.0   Border compliance (USD)                               490
      Getting Electricity (rank)                                                   51     Extent of corporate transparency index (0-7)               5.0
      Score of getting electricity (0-100)                                       83.5                                                                      Enforcing Contracts (rank)                            141
      Procedures (number)                                                           5     Paying Taxes (rank)                                       176    Score of enforcing contracts (0-100)                  49.0
      Time (days)                                                                  35     Score of paying taxes (0-100)                             46.7   Time (days)                                           790
      Cost (% of income per capita)                                              15.3     Payments (number per year)                                 36    Cost (% of claim value)                               38.0
      Reliability of supply and transparency of tariff index (0-8)                  6     Time (hours per year)                                     408    Quality of judicial processes index (0-18)             8.0
                                                                                          Total tax and contribution rate (% of profit)             37.2
      Registering Property (rank)                                                  87     Postfiling index (0-100)                                  12.8   Resolving Insolvency (rank)                           113
      Score of registering property (0-100)                                      65.2                                                                      Score of resolving insolvency (0-100)                 39.5
      Procedures (number)                                                           7                                                                      Recovery rate (cents on the dollar)                   27.0
      Time (days)                                                                22.5                                                                      Time (years)                                           2.5
      Cost (% of property value)                                                   2.3                                                                     Cost (% of estate)                                    25.0
      Quality of the land administration index (0-30)                            11.0                                                                      Outcome (0 as piecemeal sale and 1 as going             0
                                                                                                                                                           concern)
                                                                                                                                                           Strength of insolvency framework index (0-16)          8.0

                                                                                                                                                                                                                        Page 4
Doing Business 2020                         Panama

     Starting a Business

This topic measures the number of procedures, time, cost and paid-in minimum capital requirement for a small- to medium-sized limited liability company to start up and
formally operate in each economy’s largest business city.

To make the data comparable across 190 economies, Doing Business uses a standardized business that is 100% domestically owned, has start-up capital equivalent to
10 times the income per capita, engages in general industrial or commercial activities and employs between 10 and 50 people one month after the commencement of
operations, all of whom are domestic nationals. Starting a Business considers two types of local limited liability companies that are identical in all aspects, except that one
company is owned by 5 married women and the other by 5 married men. The ranking of economies on the ease of starting a business is determined by sorting their
scores for starting a business. These scores are the simple average of the scores for each of the component indicators.

The most recent round of data collection for the project was completed in May 2019. See the methodology for more information.

 What the indicators measure                                              Case study assumptions

Procedures to legally start and formally operate a company               To make the data comparable across economies, several assumptions about the business and the
(number)                                                                 procedures are used. It is assumed that any required information is readily available and that the
                                                                         entrepreneur will pay no bribes.
• Preregistration (for example, name verification or reservation,
  notarization)
                                                                         The business:
• Registration in the economy’s largest business city                    -Is a limited liability company (or its legal equivalent). If there is more than one type of limited
• Postregistration (for example, social security registration,           liability company in the economy, the limited liability form most common among domestic firms is
  company seal)                                                          chosen. Information on the most common form is obtained from incorporation lawyers or the
                                                                         statistical office.
• Obtaining approval from spouse to start a business or to leave
                                                                         -Operates in the economy’s largest business city. For 11 economies the data are also collected for
  the home to register the company
                                                                         the second largest business city.
• Obtaining any gender specific document for company                     -Performs general industrial or commercial activities such as the production or sale to the public of
  registration and operation or national identification card             goods or services. The business does not perform foreign trade activities and does not handle
                                                                         products subject to a special tax regime, for example, liquor or tobacco. It is not using heavily
Time required to complete each procedure (calendar days)
                                                                         polluting production processes.
• Does not include time spent gathering information                      -Does not qualify for investment incentives or any special benefits.
                                                                         -Is 100% domestically owned.
• Each procedure starts on a separate day (2 procedures cannot           -Has five business owners, none of whom is a legal entity. One business owner holds 30% of the
  start on the same day)
                                                                         company shares, two owners have 20% of shares each, and two owners have 15% of shares
• Procedures fully completed online are recorded as ½ day                each.
• Procedure is considered completed once final document is               -Is managed by one local director.
  received                                                               -Has between 10 and 50 employees one month after the commencement of operations, all of them
                                                                         domestic nationals.
• No prior contact with officials                                        -Has start-up capital of 10 times income per capita.
                                                                         -Has an estimated turnover of at least 100 times income per capita.
Cost required to complete each procedure (% of income per
                                                                         -Leases the commercial plant or offices and is not a proprietor of real estate.
capita)
                                                                         -Has an annual lease for the office space equivalent to one income per capita.
• Official costs only, no bribes                                         -Is in an office space of approximately 929 square meters (10,000 square feet).
                                                                         -Has a company deed that is 10 pages long.
• No professional fees unless services required by law or
  commonly used in practice
                                                                         The owners:
Paid-in minimum capital (% of income per capita)
                                                                         -Have reached the legal age of majority and are capable of making decisions as an adult. If there
• Funds deposited in a bank or with third party before registration      is no legal age of majority, they are assumed to be 30 years old.
  or up to 3 months after incorporation                                  -Are in good health and have no criminal record.
                                                                         -Are married, the marriage is monogamous and registered with the authorities.
                                                                         -Where the answer differs according to the legal system applicable to the woman or man in
                                                                         question (as may be the case in economies where there is legal plurality), the answer used will be
                                                                         the one that applies to the majority of the population.

                                                                                                                                                                                  Page 5
Doing Business 2020                        Panama

Starting a Business - Panama

  Standardized Company

 Legal form                                                                           Sociedad Anónima (S.A.) - Corporation

 Paid-in minimum capital requirement                                                  No minimum

 City Covered                                                                         Panama City

  Indicator                                                       Panama                  Latin America &          OECD high                 Best Regulatory
                                                                                          Caribbean                income                    Performance

 Procedure – Men (number)                                         5                      8.1                      4.9                       1 (2 Economies)

 Time – Men (days)                                                6                      28.8                     9.2                       0.5 (New Zealand)

 Cost – Men (% of income per capita)                              5.8                    31.4                     3.0                       0.0 (2 Economies)

 Procedure – Women (number)                                       5                      8.1                      4.9                       1 (2 Economies)

 Time – Women (days)                                              6                      28.8                     9.2                       0.5 (New Zealand)

 Cost – Women (% of income per capita)                            5.8                    31.4                     3.0                       0.0 (2 Economies)

 Paid-in min. capital (% of income per capita)                    0.0                    0.4                      7.6                       0.0 (120 Economies)

 Figure – Starting a Business in Panama – Score

                             76.5                               94.5                                97.1                                 100.0

                          Procedures                            Time                                Cost                           Paid-in min. capital

 Figure – Starting a Business in Panama and comparator economies – Ranking and Score

                                                                   DB 2020 Starting a Business Score

                            0                                                                                           100

                                                                                                           92.0: Panama (Rank: 51)

                                                                                                       87.0: Colombia (Rank: 95)

                                                                                                       86.8: Guatemala (Rank: 99)

                                                                                                 79.9: Costa Rica (Rank: 144)

                                                                                                 79.6: Regional Average (Latin America & Caribbean)

                                                                                                78.6: El Salvador (Rank: 148)

Note: The ranking of economies on the ease of starting a business is determined by sorting their scores for starting a business. These scores are the simple average of
the scores for each of the component indicators.

                                                                                                                                                                          Page 6
Doing Business 2020                Panama

  Figure – Starting a Business in Panama – Procedure, Time and Cost

                                                                Time (days)        Cost (% of income per capita)
               6                                                                                                                                                 3.5

                                                                                                                                                                 3

                                                                                                                                                                        Cost (% of income per capita)
               5

                                                                                                                                                                 2.5
               4
 Time (days)

                                                                                                                                                                 2
               3
                                                                                                                                                                 1.5

               2
                                                                                                                                                                 1

               1
                                                                                                                                                                 0.5

               0                                                                                                                                                 0
                        1                           2                              3                               4                            5
                                                                           Procedures (number)

* This symbol is shown beside procedure numbers that take place simultaneously with the previous procedure.

Note: Online procedures account for 0.5 days in the total time calculation. For economies that have a different procedure list for men and women, the graph shows the
time for women. For more information on methodology, see the Doing Business website (http://doingbusiness.org/en/methodology). For details on the procedures
reflected here, see the summary below.

                                                                                                                                                                                                        Page 7
Doing Business 2020                      Panama

Details – Starting a Business in Panama – Procedure, Time and Cost

No.     Procedures                                                                                            Time to Complete   Associated Costs

1      Hire a registered agent to prepare the articles of association                                         1 day              USD 250
       Agency : Law firm
       It is necessary to hire a lawyer or law firm to serve as Registered Agent of the corporation and
       prepare its Articles of Association.

2      Notarize the articles of incorporation                                                                 1 day              USD 75
       Agency : Public Notary
       The articles of incorporation to be notarized must include:
       (a) the name and domicile of each subscriber to the articles of incorporation;
       (b) the domicile of the company and of the resident agent, who must be a lawyer or law firm in
       Panama;
       (c) the names and addresses of the directors and the officers;
       (d) the name of the corporation, set out in such a way to distinguish it from other registered names
       already registered with the Public Register;
       (e) the company purpose or general objectives;
       (f) the name of at least the president, the secretary, and the treasurer, who may or may not be the
       same as the directors and need not to be shareholders and who may hold more than one office or
       title;
       (g) details about the capital and the type and number of shares into which it is divided;
       (h) the company duration, which may be perpetual;
       (i) any other provision the subscribers may wish to include;
       (j) the amount of share that each shareholder will acquire.

3      Register at the Mercantile Division of the Public Registry and pay the Annual Franchise Tax            2 days             see comments
       Agency : Mercantile Division of the Public Registry
       The entry fees are the following (since July 2013):
       - USD 50.00 for the first USD 10,000.00 in capital stock
       - 0.75 cents for each additional 1,000.00 or fraction.

       The Annual Registration Tax of USD 300 must also be paid. Payments can be made at the
       National Bank of Panama or at any cashier of the Ministry of Economy and Finance. The National
       Bank of Panama has a booth at the Public Registry. This payment also can be done online.

4      Obtain a notice of operations (“aviso de operación”) through the “Panama Emprende”                     1 day              USD 55 for legal entities
       website
       Agency : Ministry of Trade & Industry
       A notice of operations must be obtained. Law 5 of January 11, 2007 established a new on-line
       system called “Panama Emprende” (www.panamaemprende.gob.pa) which facilitates the creation
       of companies. The new system replaces the obtainment of commercial licenses for the obtainment
       of a notice of operation.

       In addition, since April 24th 2012, the Ministry of Trade and Industry and the municipality of
       Panama are interconnected through the online platform Panama Emprende. As a result, it is no
       longer required to visit the municipality to obtain a taxpayer number. Now entrepreneurs receive
       automatically the municipal taxpayer number together with the operation permit through Panama
       Emprende.

5      Request an employers’ inscription number and register employees at the Social Security                 1 day              no charge
       Administration
       Agency : Social Security Institute
       Employers and employees must be registered with Social Security. The Social Security Institute
       takes care of the registration of employees in order to report salaries and make the payments
       related to welfare programs and educational taxes as well as income taxes. It manages as well
       insurance programs for pension, health, unemployment and and occupational accident and injury.

Takes place simultaneously with previous procedure.

                                                                                                                                                             Page 8
Doing Business 2020                         Panama

     Dealing with Construction Permits

This topic tracks the procedures, time and cost to build a warehouse—including obtaining necessary the licenses and permits, submitting all required notifications,
requesting and receiving all necessary inspections and obtaining utility connections. In addition, the Dealing with Construction Permits indicator measures the building
quality control index, evaluating the quality of building regulations, the strength of quality control and safety mechanisms, liability and insurance regimes, and professional
certification requirements. The most recent round of data collection was completed in May 2019. See the methodology for more information

 What the indicators measure                                              Case study assumptions

Procedures to legally build a warehouse (number)                         To make the data comparable across economies, several assumptions about the construction
                                                                         company, the warehouse project and the utility connections are used.
• Submitting all relevant documents and obtaining all necessary
  clearances, licenses, permits and certificates
                                                                         The construction company (BuildCo):
• Submitting all required notifications and receiving all necessary      - Is a limited liability company (or its legal equivalent) and operates in the economy’s largest
  inspections
                                                                         business city. For 11 economies the data are also collected for the second largest business city.
• Obtaining utility connections for water and sewerage                   - Is 100% domestically and privately owned; has five owners, none of whom is a legal entity. Has a
                                                                         licensed architect and a licensed engineer, both registered with the local association of architects
• Registering and selling the warehouse after its completion
                                                                         or engineers. BuildCo is not assumed to have any other employees who are technical or licensed
Time required to complete each procedure (calendar days)                 experts, such as geological or topographical experts.
                                                                         - Owns the land on which the warehouse will be built and will sell the warehouse upon its
• Does not include time spent gathering information                      completion.
• Each procedure starts on a separate day—though procedures
  that can be fully completed online are an exception to this rule       The warehouse:

• Procedure is considered completed once final document is               - Will be used for general storage activities, such as storage of books or stationery.
  received                                                               - Will have two stories, both above ground, with a total constructed area of approximately 1,300.6
                                                                         square meters (14,000 square feet). Each floor will be 3 meters (9 feet, 10 inches) high and will be
• No prior contact with officials                                        located on a land plot of approximately 929 square meters (10,000 square feet) that is 100%
                                                                         owned by BuildCo, and the warehouse is valued at 50 times income per capita.
Cost required to complete each procedure (% of income per
                                                                         - Will have complete architectural and technical plans prepared by a licensed architect. If
capita)
                                                                         preparation of the plans requires such steps as obtaining further documentation or getting prior
• Official costs only, no bribes                                         approvals from external agencies, these are counted as procedures.
                                                                         - Will take 30 weeks to construct (excluding all delays due to administrative and regulatory
Building quality control index (0-15)                                    requirements).
• Quality of building regulations (0-2)
                                                                         The water and sewerage connections:
• Quality control before construction (0-1)
                                                                         - Will be 150 meters (492 feet) from the existing water source and sewer tap. If there is no water
• Quality control during construction (0-3)                              delivery infrastructure in the economy, a borehole will be dug. If there is no sewerage
• Quality control after construction (0-3)                               infrastructure, a septic tank in the smallest size available will be installed or built.
                                                                         - Will have an average water use of 662 liters (175 gallons) a day and an average wastewater flow
• Liability and insurance regimes (0-2)                                  of 568 liters (150 gallons) a day. Will have a peak water use of 1,325 liters (350 gallons) a day and
• Professional certifications (0-4)                                      a peak wastewater flow of 1,136 liters (300 gallons) a day.
                                                                         - Will have a constant level of water demand and wastewater flow throughout the year; will be 1
                                                                         inch in diameter for the water connection and 4 inches in diameter for the sewerage connection.

                                                                                                                                                                                  Page 9
Doing Business 2020                        Panama

Dealing with Construction Permits - Panama

  Standardized Warehouse

 Estimated value of warehouse                                                         USD 717,796.80

 City Covered                                                                         Panama City

  Indicator                                                       Panama                   Latin America &           OECD high                   Best Regulatory
                                                                                           Caribbean                 income                      Performance

 Procedures (number)                                              18                      15.5                       12.7                       None in 2018/19

 Time (days)                                                      105                     191.2                      152.3                      None in 2018/19

 Cost (% of warehouse value)                                      2.5                     3.6                        1.5                        None in 2018/19

 Building quality control index (0-15)                            9.0                     9.0                        11.6                       15.0 (6 Economies)

 Figure – Dealing with Construction Permits in Panama – Score

                              48.0                              77.2                                 87.7                                     60.0

                          Procedures                            Time                                 Cost                         Building quality control index

 Figure – Dealing with Construction Permits in Panama and comparator economies – Ranking and Score

                                                           DB 2020 Dealing with Construction Permits Score

                             0                                                                                              100

                                                                                           70.8: Costa Rica (Rank: 78)

                                                                                         69.1: Colombia (Rank: 89)

                                                                                        68.2: Panama (Rank: 100)

                                                                                      65.3: Guatemala (Rank: 118)

                                                                                    63.2: Regional Average (Latin America & Caribbean)

                                                                           52.3: El Salvador (Rank: 168)

Note: The ranking of economies on the ease of dealing with construction permits is determined by sorting their scores for dealing with construction permits. These scores
are the simple average of the scores for each of the component indicators.

                                                                                                                                                                            Page 10
Doing Business 2020                Panama

  Figure – Dealing with Construction Permits in Panama – Procedure, Time and Cost

                                                                   Time (days)        Cost (% of warehouse value)
                                                                                                                                                                 1.2
               100

                                                                                                                                                                 1

                                                                                                                                                                        Cost (% of warehouse value)
               80

                                                                                                                                                                 0.8
 Time (days)

               60
                                                                                                                                                                 0.6

               40
                                                                                                                                                                 0.4

               20
                                                                                                                                                                 0.2

                0                                                                                                                                                0
                     1   2     *3   *4       5        6       *7        8        *9       10       11     12        * 13   * 14   15      16       17      18
                                                                             Procedures (number)

* This symbol is shown beside procedure numbers that take place simultaneously with the previous procedure.

Note: Online procedures account for 0.5 days in the total time calculation. For economies that have a different procedure list for men and women, the graph shows the
time for women. For more information on methodology, see the Doing Business website (http://doingbusiness.org/en/methodology). For details on the procedures
reflected here, see the summary below.

                                                                                                                                                                                                      Page 11
Doing Business 2020                                    Panama

Figure – Dealing with Construction Permits in Panama and comparator economies – Measure of Quality

              11.5
                                                             11.0                        11.0                                              11.0
                  11
Index score

              10.5
                                                                                                                    10.0
                  10
              9.5
                                  9.0                                                                                                                            9.0
                  9
              8.5
                  8

                                Panama                     Colombia                     Costa                        El                  Guatemala               Latin
                                                                                        Rica                      Salvador                                      America
                                                                                                                                                                   &
                                                                                                                                                               Caribbean

Details – Dealing with Construction Permits in Panama – Procedure, Time and Cost

  No.                  Procedures                                                                                              Time to Complete      Associated Costs

1                      Request and obtain a good standing certificate (certificado de paz y salvo)                             2 days                USD 30
                       Agency : Public Registry Office (Registro Público de Panamá)
                       For the construction of a warehouse the first step is to obtain a good standing certificate issued by
                       the Public Registry Office (Registro Público de Panamá). This certificate is required by the
                       Directorate of Works and Construction of the Municipality of Panama to verify who the property
                       owner is, where the project will be developed, the property number and the lot area. In particular,
                       construction plans, the construction permit, and the occupation permit all must include the
                       property number.

2                      Obtain results of geotechnical study / soil test                                                        30 days               USD 2,000
                       Agency : Private licensed company
                       According to Article 21.4 from Acuerdo 281 adopted by the Consejo Municipal de Panama in
                       December 2016, as well as its earlier versions, a soil test is required for all new constructions. A
                       soil test is a necessary step for development of the project. The soil investigation helps to
                       determine the bearing capacity of the land, which helps to determine the load capability, the type
                       and depth of foundation, in order to make sure to select a suitable construction technique.

              3        Request and obtain environmental study                                                                  23 days               USD 2,500
                       Agency : Independent Environmental Consultant
                       The environmental impact study must be conducted by an independent environmental consultant
                       and certified by the National Environmental Authority (Ministerio de Medio Ambiente-ANAM). In
                       the Doing Business case, given the intended use of the warehouse, the required environmental
                       impact study is that of Type I.

                       The process of completing an environmental impact study may take from 15 to 30 days, but the
                       approval by the National Environmental Authority could take approximately 45 days, depending on
                       the category of the environmental impact study.

              4        Obtain results of topographical survey                                                                  14 days               USD 1,250
                       Agency : Private Engineer
                       According to Article 3.02 of the Municipal Decree Nº116 of July 9, 1996, Build Co. needs to obtain
                       the topographical survey to design the location map.

5                      Notarize form to deposit the environmental study                                                        1 day                 USD 3
                       Agency : Notary
                       The environmental expert will issue the environmental impact study to BuildCo. BuildCo must then
                       complete a form and both the environmental impact study and the form must be notarized. The
                       entire file is then submitted to the Ministry of Environment for further review.

6                      Request and obtain preliminary approval from the Environmental Authority                                15 days               USD 350
                       Agency : Municipal Office (Environmental Authority)
                       While BuildCo. submits the paper work to the Municipaity, they can pay the fee at the head office
                       of the Environmental Authority.

              7        Submit drawings (anteproyecto) to the Municipality and obtain clearance                                 7 days                USD 1
                       Agency : Municipality of Panama, Works and Construction Department (Dirección de Obras y
                       Construcciones Municipales)
                       The architect must fill out the petition form and submit the preliminary design (anteproyecto). The
                       Municipal Office has created a centralized window for filing of the preliminary project design.

8                      Hold consultation with the Municipality to determine approvals                                          6 days                no charge
                       Agency : Municipality of Panama, Works and Construction Department (Dirección de Obras y
                       Construcciones Municipales)
                       This procedure is in the process of being incorporated into the online system administered through
                       Panama Tramita. This will allow for a parallel approval process to be completed online. Until this
                       electronic platform is fully implemented, a public official from the Municipal Office determines the
                       government offices that must approve the project. Representatives of the different offices are
                       located in the Municipality but in separate offices. The company or architect must obtain approvals
                       from those offices directly.

                                                                                                                                                                           Page 12
Doing Business 2020                         Panama

     9   Request and obtain signature of certified fire specialist                                              2 days    USD 359
         Agency : Certified Fire Specialist
         BuildCo must receive an approval of the project drawings related to fire safety from an
         independent and certified specialist. This is then submitted to the Fire Department Safety Office
         (Benemerito Cuerpo de Bomberos de la Republica) for approval.

10       Request and obtain preliminary approval from Ministry of Public Works and Fire                         1 day     USD 80
         Department Safety Office
         Agency : Ministry of Public Works and Fire Department Safety Office
         BuildCo must obtain a preliminary approval from the Works and Construction Department. In order
         to obtain the approval the project needs to comply with urban zoning regulations. The certification
         of land use is issued by the Land Management and Housing Department and requested by the
         Works and Construction Department only if the zoning lot does not appear in the following book
         "Documento gráfico de zonificación para la ciudad de Panamá- MIVI'2004", which is where the
         established land uses (zoning) are shown.

11       Request and obtain construction permit                                                                 15 days   USD 7,722
         Agency : Municipality of Panama, Works and Construction Department (Dirección de Obras y
         Construcciones Municipales)
         BuildCo must present the application to the director of the Municipal Construction and Works
         Authority, accompanied by two copies of the blueprints; the land use certification issued by the the
         approvals issued by the Fire Department Safety Office, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Public
         Works, and Environmental Authority; the municipal good standing certificate; and proof of
         registration of BuildCo with the Technical Board.

12       Request and connect to water and sewerage services                                                     14 days   USD 336
         Agency : Water and Sewerage Authority (Instituto de Acueductos y Alcantarillados Nacionales-
         IDAAN)
         The cost is based on the latest fee schedule provided in Resolution No. 9484 (December 2015) by
         the Water and Sewerage Authority (Instituto de Acueductos y Alcantarillados Nacionales-IDAAN).
         The breakdown is as follows:

         1. Water meter: USD 165.52
         2. Installation USD 70.88
         3. Metal deposit box: USD 48.14
         4. Installation: USD 51.12

         Receive inspection from Municipal Office (Ministry of Public Works)                                    1 day     no charge
13       Agency : Municipal Office (Ministry of Public Works)
         While waiting for the water and sewage services, BuildCo, according to Article 64 of Building
         Regulations, receives an inspection by the Municipal Office (Ministry of Public Works) in order to
         obtain the occupancy permit.

         Receive inspection from Fire Department Safety Office                                                  1 day     no charge
14       Agency : Municipal Office (Fire Department Safety Office)
         At the same time BuildCo receives an inspection from the Fire Department so that the department
         can issue a permit. Inspectors come according to a schedule of visits that is defined when the
         preliminary approval has been granted.

15       BuildCo. obtains the permit by Fire Department Safety Office.                                          2 days    USD 400
         Agency : Municipal Office (Fire Department Safety Office)
         BuildCo. must obtain an approval from the Fire Department Safety Office after receiving the
         inspection (Benemerito Cuerpo de Bomberos de la Republica)

16       Request and obtain occupancy permit                                                                    10 days   USD 320
         Agency : Municipal Office (Fire Department Safety Office)
         After receiving the approvals, BuildCo. obtains an occupancy permit issued by the Fire
         Department Safety Office (Benemerito Cuerpo de Bomberos de la Republica)

17       Notary notarizes “declaration of improvement” (declaración de mejora)                                  2 days    USD 100
         Agency : Notary
         When the occupancy permit has been issued, BuildCo will need to notarize a declaration, which
         must be drafted on an official form (escritura pública)

18       Register building with the Central Property Registry                                                   7 days    USD 2,153
         Agency : Central Property Registry
         According to the fees published by the Public Registry (Resolution No. 212 of April 18, 2013 ) the
         "entry fee" for the constitution or transfer of ownership of real property (including improvements
         declaration) is USD 3 for each USD 1,000 of the property value.

Takes place simultaneously with previous procedure.

                                                                                                                                      Page 13
Doing Business 2020                         Panama

Details – Dealing with Construction Permits in Panama – Measure of Quality

                                                                                                                        Answer                    Score

Building quality control index (0-15)                                                                                                             9.0

Quality of building regulations index (0-2)                                                                                                       2.0

  How accessible are building laws and regulations in your economy? (0-1)                                               Available online; Free    1.0
                                                                                                                        of charge.

  Which requirements for obtaining a building permit are clearly specified in the building regulations or on any        List of required          1.0
  accessible website, brochure or pamphlet? (0-1)                                                                       documents; Fees to
                                                                                                                        be paid; Required
                                                                                                                        preapprovals.

Quality control before construction index (0-1)                                                                                                   1.0

  Which third-party entities are required by law to verify that the building plans are in compliance with existing      Licensed architect;       1.0
  building regulations? (0-1)                                                                                           Licensed engineer.

Quality control during construction index (0-3)                                                                                                   0.0

  What types of inspections (if any) are required by law to be carried out during construction? (0-2)                   No inspections are        0.0
                                                                                                                        legally required
                                                                                                                        during construction..

  Do legally mandated inspections occur in practice during construction? (0-1)                                          Mandatory                 0.0
                                                                                                                        inspections are not
                                                                                                                        always done in
                                                                                                                        practice during
                                                                                                                        construction.

Quality control after construction index (0-3)                                                                                                    3.0

  Is there a final inspection required by law to verify that the building was built in accordance with the approved     Yes, final inspection     2.0
  plans and regulations? (0-2)                                                                                          is done by
                                                                                                                        government agency.

  Do legally mandated final inspections occur in practice? (0-1)                                                        Final inspection          1.0
                                                                                                                        always occurs in
                                                                                                                        practice.

Liability and insurance regimes index (0-2)                                                                                                       1.0

  Which parties (if any) are held liable by law for structural flaws or problems in the building once it is in use      Architect or engineer;    1.0
  (Latent Defect Liability or Decennial Liability)? (0-1)                                                               Professional in
                                                                                                                        charge of the
                                                                                                                        supervision;
                                                                                                                        Construction
                                                                                                                        company.

  Which parties (if any) are required by law to obtain an insurance policy to cover possible structural flaws or        No party is required      0.0
  problems in the building once it is in use (Latent Defect Liability Insurance or Decennial Insurance)? (0-1)          by law to obtain
                                                                                                                        insurance .

Professional certifications index (0-4)                                                                                                           2.0

  What are the qualification requirements for the professional responsible for verifying that the architectural plans   University degree in      1.0
  or drawings are in compliance with existing building regulations? (0-2)                                               architecture or
                                                                                                                        engineering; Being a
                                                                                                                        registered architect or
                                                                                                                        engineer.

  What are the qualification requirements for the professional who supervises the construction on the ground? (0-       University degree in      1.0
  2)                                                                                                                    engineering,
                                                                                                                        construction or
                                                                                                                        construction
                                                                                                                        management; Being
                                                                                                                        a registered architect
                                                                                                                        or engineer.

                                                                                                                                                          Page 14
Doing Business 2020                          Panama

     Getting Electricity

This topic measures the procedures, time and cost required for a business to obtain a permanent electricity connection for a newly constructed warehouse. Additionally,
the reliability of supply and transparency of tariffs index measures reliability of supply, transparency of tariffs and the price of electricity. The most recent round of data
collection for the project was completed in May 2019. See the methodology for more information.

 What the indicators measure                                               Case study assumptions

Procedures to obtain an electricity connection (number)                  To make the data comparable across economies, several assumptions about the warehouse, the
                                                                         electricity connection and the monthly consumption are used.
• Submitting all relevant documents and obtaining all necessary
  clearances and permits
                                                                         The warehouse:
• Completing all required notifications and receiving all necessary      - Is owned by a local entrepreneur and is used for storage of goods.
  inspections
                                                                         - Is located in the economy’s largest business city. For 11 economies the data are also collected for
• Obtaining external installation works and possibly purchasing          the second largest business city.
  material for these works                                               - Is located in an area where similar warehouses are typically located and is in an area with no
                                                                         physical constraints. For example, the property is not near a railway.
• Concluding any necessary supply contract and obtaining final
                                                                         - Is a new construction and is being connected to electricity for the first time.
  supply
                                                                         - Has two stories with a total surface area of approximately 1,300.6 square meters (14,000 square
Time required to complete each procedure (calendar days)                 feet). The plot of land on which it is built is 929 square meters (10,000 square feet).

• Is at least 1 calendar day                                             The electricity connection:
• Each procedure starts on a separate day                                - Is a permanent one with a three-phase, four-wire Y connection with a subscribed capacity of 140-
• Does not include time spent gathering information                      kilo-volt-ampere (kVA) with a power factor of 1, when 1 kVA = 1 kilowatt (kW).
                                                                         - Has a length of 150 meters. The connection is to either the low- or medium-voltage distribution
• Reflects the time spent in practice, with little follow-up and no      network and is either overhead or underground, whichever is more common in the area where the
  prior contact with officials
                                                                         warehouse is located and requires works that involve the crossing of a 10-meter road (such as by
                                                                         excavation or overhead lines) but are all carried out on public land. There is no crossing of other
Cost required to complete each procedure (% of income per
                                                                         owners’ private property because the warehouse has access to a road.
capita)
                                                                         - Does not require work to install the internal wiring of the warehouse. This has already been
• Official costs only, no bribes                                         completed up to and including the customer’s service panel or switchboard and the meter base.
• Value added tax excluded                                               The monthly consumption:
The reliability of supply and transparency of tariffs index (0-8)
                                                                         - It is assumed that the warehouse operates 30 days a month from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. (8 hours
• Duration and frequency of power outages (0–3)                          a day), with equipment utilized at 80% of capacity on average and that there are no electricity cuts
• Tools to monitor power outages (0–1)                                   (assumed for simplicity reasons) and the monthly energy consumption is 26,880 kilowatt-hours
                                                                         (kWh); hourly consumption is 112 kWh.
• Tools to restore power supply (0–1)                                    - If multiple electricity suppliers exist, the warehouse is served by the cheapest supplier.
• Regulatory monitoring of utilities’ performance (0–1)                  - Tariffs effective in January of the current year are used for calculation of the price of electricity for
                                                                         the warehouse. Although January has 31 days, for calculation purposes only 30 days are used.
• Financial deterrents limiting outages (0–1)
• Transparency and accessibility of tariffs (0–1)
Price of electricity (cents per kilowatt-hour)*

• Price based on monthly bill for commercial warehouse in case
  study

*Note: Doing Business measures the price of electricity, but it is
not included in the ease of doing business score nor in the ranking
on the ease of getting electricity.

                                                                                                                                                                                       Page 15
Doing Business 2020                      Panama

Getting Electricity - Panama

       Standardized Connection

    Name of utility                                                                         Naturgy

    Price of electricity (US cents per kWh)                                                 25.4

    City Covered                                                                            Panama City

       Indicator                                                    Panama                     Latin America &               OECD high               Best Regulatory
                                                                                               Caribbean                     income                  Performance

    Procedures (number)                                             5                          5.5                          4.4                     3 (28 Economies)

    Time (days)                                                     35                         66.8                         74.8                    18 (3 Economies)

    Cost (% of income per capita)                                   15.3                       407.2                        61.0                    0.0 (3 Economies)

    Reliability of supply and transparency of tariff index (0-8)    6                          4.4                          7.4                     8 (26 Economies)

  Figure – Getting Electricity in Panama – Score

                                 66.7                              92.6                                     99.8                                  75.0

                               Procedures                          Time                                     Cost          Reliability of supply and transparency of tariff index

  Figure – Getting Electricity in Panama and comparator economies – Ranking and Score

                                                                        DB 2020 Getting Electricity Score

                                 0                                                                                                100

                                                                                                                   88.9: Costa Rica (Rank: 25)

                                                                                                             84.2: Guatemala (Rank: 46)

                                                                                                            83.5: Panama (Rank: 51)

                                                                                                      76.3: Colombia (Rank: 82)

                                                                                                     74.5: El Salvador (Rank: 87)

                                                                                                   71.7: Regional Average (Latin America & Caribbean)

Note: The ranking of economies on the ease of getting electricity is determined by sorting their scores for getting electricity. These scores are the simple average of the
scores for all the component indicators except the price of electricity.

  Figure – Getting Electricity in Panama – Procedure, Time and Cost

                                                                   Time (days)         Cost (% of income per capita)
               35                                                                                                                                                              14

               30                                                                                                                                                              12
                                                                                                                                                                                    Cost (% of income per capita)

               25                                                                                                                                                              10
 Time (days)

               20                                                                                                                                                              8

               15                                                                                                                                                              6

               10                                                                                                                                                              4

               5                                                                                                                                                               2

               0                                                                                                                                                               0
                         1                                *2                            3                                    *4                              5
                                                                                Procedures (number)

* This symbol is shown beside procedure numbers that take place simultaneously with the previous procedure.

Note: Online procedures account for 0.5 days in the total time calculation. For economies that have a different procedure list for men and women, the graph shows the
time for women. For more information on methodology, see the Doing Business website (http://doingbusiness.org/en/methodology). For details on the procedures
                                                                                                                                                                                                                    Page 16
Doing Business 2020                  Panama

reflected here, see the summary below.

 Figure – Getting Electricity in Panama and comparator economies – Measure of Quality

               9                                                 8
               8                                                                                      7
               7
 Index score

                     6                      6                                              6
               6
               5                                                                                                 4.4
               4
               3
               2
               1
               0

                   Panama                Colombia               Costa                      El      Guatemala     Latin
                                                                Rica                    Salvador                America
                                                                                                                   &
                                                                                                               Caribbean

                                                                                                                           Page 17
Doing Business 2020                         Panama

Details – Getting Electricity in Panama – Procedure, Time and Cost

No.     Procedures                                                                                                 Time to Complete   Associated Costs

1       Obtain electricity occupancy permit from the Fire Department                                               21 calendar days   USD 250
        Agency : The Municipality
        The certification of the internal wiring (ELEC-411 resolution) is obtained from the Fire Department
        in the context of the occupancy permit and certifies the internal electrical wiring installation. Safety
        requirements are governed by RIE (NEC + local regulations) - 1999 NESC 2007 Ministerio de
        Trabajo (reglamento de seguridad en la construcción) 2006.

    2   Receive site visit by Fire Department for certification of internal wiring                                 7 calendar days    USD 45
        Agency : The Fire Department
        The Fire Department will visit the site to verify that the electrical installations are in accordance
        with the standards and approved designs.

3       Send request for connection to Naturgy                                                                     7 calendar days    USD 1,897.03
        Agency : Naturgy
        With the service application the customer must submit the following documents:
        • Copy of personal identification card or passport (or passport of the Directorate of Immigration
        and Naturalization), in the case of foreign natural person a copy of Certificate of Public Registry of
        the Company for the legal person.
        • If the natural person or legal representative of the company is unable to attend personally to sign
        the supply contract, the following will be needed:
        o For individuals: original letter of authorization with copy of identity card of the grantor and of the
        authorized person.
        o For legal entity: Notarized power of attorney and copy of the identity document of the grantor
        and of the empowered.
        • For new buildings or facilities not occupied a copy of occupancy permit.
        • In cases of customers such as buildings, exhibitions, fairs, circuses, etc. requiring a temporary
        supply, they must submit the corresponding authorization to operate issued by competent
        authority.
        • Submit certification of good payment history or references of recent credit, i.e. not exceeding a
        period of 5 years from the date the request is made. In their absence, the applicant must pay the
        security deposit provisions established in the regulation.
        • Pay the connection tariff according to the fee statement in force.
        An estimate does not have to be prepared, because there is fixed installation fee of $107. In
        addition, a security deposit has to be paid of one month of expected future consumption. The
        security deposit is returned to the customer with interest after one year of service. For a detail of
        charges, see: http://www.asep.gob.pa/electric/tarifas.asp. If the customer's warehouse is less than
        100m from power lines, the Act states that the work has to be free.
        Once the customer request arrives with Naturgy, a service order is established internally.

    4   Receive external inspection by Naturgy's subcontractor                                                     2 calendar days    USD 0
        Agency : Naturgy
        After the customer has submitted the service request a subcontractor of Naturgy inspects the site
        and determines what type of works are needed. It is not necessary for a representative of the
        customer to be present.

5       Sign supply contract and await completion of external works                                                7 calendar days    USD 0
        Agency : Naturgy
        The utility, not the customer obtains the right of way from the Ministerio de Obras Publicas (MOP).
        The subcontractor carries out the connection works to the low voltage network. All materials are
        provided by Naturgy. The customer is only responsible for the internal connection from their
        property to the meter box. 3 transformers of 50 kW each are installed and the connecting cables
        are laid out. Last, the meter is installed and the electricity starts flowing.

Takes place simultaneously with previous procedure.

                                                                                                                                                         Page 18
Doing Business 2020                          Panama

 Details – Getting Electricity in Panama – Measure of Quality

                                                                                                                                                    Answer

 Reliability of supply and transparency of tariff index (0-8)                                                                                      6

 Total duration and frequency of outages per customer a year (0-3)                                                                                 1

    System average interruption duration index (SAIDI)                                                                                             7.8

    System average interruption frequency index (SAIFI)                                                                                            5.2

    What is the minimum outage time (in minutes) that the utility considers for the calculation of SAIDI/SAIFI                                     3.0

 Mechanisms for monitoring outages (0-1)                                                                                                           1

    Does the distribution utility use automated tools to monitor outages?                                                                          Yes

 Mechanisms for restoring service (0-1)                                                                                                            1

    Does the distribution utility use automated tools to restore service?                                                                          Yes

 Regulatory monitoring (0-1)                                                                                                                       1

    Does a regulator—that is, an entity separate from the utility—monitor the utility’s performance on reliability of supply?                      Yes

 Financial deterrents aimed at limiting outages (0-1)                                                                                              1

    Does the utility either pay compensation to customers or face fines by the regulator (or both) if outages exceed a certain cap?                Yes

 Communication of tariffs and tariff changes (0-1)                                                                                                 1

    Are effective tariffs available online?                                                                                                        Yes

    Link to the website, if available online                                                                                                       http://www.naturgy.com.p
                                                                                                                                                   a/servlet/ficheros/129716
                                                                                                                                                   2571134/Pliego_Tarifario_
                                                                                                                                                   Edemet_Enero_-
                                                                                                                                                   _Junio_2019.pdf

    Are customers notified of a change in tariff ahead of the billing cycle?                                                                       Yes

Note:

If the duration and frequency of outages is 100 or less, the economy is eligible to score on the Reliability of supply and transparency of tariff index.

If the duration and frequency of outages is not available, or is over 100, the economy is not eligible to score on the index.

If the minimum outage time considered for SAIDI/SAIFI is over 5 minutes, the economy is not eligible to score on the index.

                                                                                                                                                                               Page 19
Doing Business 2020                         Panama

     Registering Property

This topic examines the steps, time and cost involved in registering property, assuming a standardized case of an entrepreneur who wants to purchase land and a
building that is already registered and free of title dispute. In addition, the topic also measures the quality of the land administration system in each economy. The quality
of land administration index has five dimensions: reliability of infrastructure, transparency of information, geographic coverage, land dispute resolution, and equal access
to property rights. The most recent round of data collection for the project was completed in May 2019. See the methodology for more information.

 What the indicators measure                                              Case study assumptions

Procedures to legally transfer title on immovable property               To make the data comparable across economies, several assumptions about the parties to the
(number)                                                                 transaction, the property and the procedures are used.

• Preregistration procedures (for example, checking for liens,           The parties (buyer and seller):
  notarizing sales agreement, paying property transfer taxes)
                                                                         - Are limited liability companies (or the legal equivalent).
• Registration procedures in the economy's largest business city.        - Are located in the periurban (that is, on the outskirts of the city but still within its official limits)
• Postregistration procedures (for example, filling title with           area of the economy’s largest business city. For 11 economies the data are also collected for the
  municipality)                                                          second largest business city.
                                                                         - Are 100% domestically and privately owned.
Time required to complete each procedure (calendar days)                 - Perform general commercial activities.
• Does not include time spent gathering information
                                                                         The property (fully owned by the seller):
• Each procedure starts on a separate day - though procedures
                                                                         - Has a value of 50 times income per capita, which equals the sale price.
  that can be fully completed online are an exception to this rule
                                                                         - Is fully owned by the seller.
• Procedure is considered completed once final document is               - Has no mortgages attached and has been under the same ownership for the past 10 years.
  received                                                               - Is registered in the land registry or cadastre, or both, and is free of title disputes.
• No prior contact with officials                                        - Is located in a periurban commercial zone (that is, on the outskirts of the city but still within its
                                                                         official limits), and no rezoning is required.
Cost required to complete each procedure (% of property                  - Consists of land and a building. The land area is 557.4 square meters (6,000 square feet). A two-
value)                                                                   story warehouse of 929 square meters (10,000 square feet) is located on the land. The warehouse
                                                                         is 10 years old, is in good condition, has no heating system and complies with all safety standards,
• Official costs only (such as administrative fees, duties and           building codes and legal requirements. The property, consisting of land and building, will be
  taxes).
                                                                         transferred in its entirety.
• Value Added Tax, Capital Gains Tax and illicit payments are            - Will not be subject to renovations or additional construction following the purchase.
  excluded                                                               - Has no trees, natural water sources, natural reserves or historical monuments of any kind.
                                                                         - Will not be used for special purposes, and no special permits, such as for residential use,
Quality of land administration index (0-30)
                                                                         industrial plants, waste storage or certain types of agricultural activities, are required.
• Reliability of infrastructure index (0-8)                              - Has no occupants, and no other party holds a legal interest in it.

• Transparency of information index (0–6)
• Geographic coverage index (0–8)
• Land dispute resolution index (0–8)
• Equal access to property rights index (-2–0)

                                                                                                                                                                                       Page 20
Doing Business 2020                        Panama

Registering Property - Panama

  Indicator                                                        Panama                  Latin America &            OECD high                  Best Regulatory
                                                                                           Caribbean                  income                     Performance

 Procedures (number)                                              7                       7.4                         4.7                       1 (5 Economies)

 Time (days)                                                      22.5                    63.7                        23.6                      1 (2 Economies)

 Cost (% of property value)                                       2.3                     5.9                         4.2                       0.0 (Saudi Arabia)

 Quality of the land administration index (0-30)                  11.0                    12.0                        23.2                      None in 2018/19

 Figure – Registering Property in Panama – Score

                              50.0                               89.7                                  84.3                                   36.7

                          Procedures                             Time                                  Cost                  Quality of the land administration index

 Figure – Registering Property in Panama and comparator economies – Ranking and Score

                                                                  DB 2020 Registering Property Score

                              0                                                                                             100

                                                                                                74.4: Costa Rica (Rank: 49)

                                                                                           71.2: Colombia (Rank: 62)

                                                                                       66.3: El Salvador (Rank: 79)

                                                                                      65.2: Panama (Rank: 87)

                                                                                     64.9: Guatemala (Rank: 89)

                                                                             54.9: Regional Average (Latin America & Caribbean)

Note: The ranking of economies on the ease of registering property is determined by sorting their scores for registering property. These scores are the simple average of
the scores for each of the component indicators.

                                                                                                                                                                            Page 21
Doing Business 2020                Panama

  Figure – Registering Property in Panama – Procedure, Time and Cost

                                                                  Time (days)       Cost (% of property value)
                                                                                                                                                                 2.5

               20

                                                                                                                                                                        Cost (% of property value)
                                                                                                                                                                 2

               15
 Time (days)

                                                                                                                                                                 1.5

               10
                                                                                                                                                                 1

               5
                                                                                                                                                                 0.5

               0                                                                                                                                                 0
                     1                 *2                   *3                     4                     5                     6                     7
                                                                           Procedures (number)

* This symbol is shown beside procedure numbers that take place simultaneously with the previous procedure.

Note: Online procedures account for 0.5 days in the total time calculation. For economies that have a different procedure list for men and women, the graph shows the
time for women. For more information on methodology, see the Doing Business website (http://doingbusiness.org/en/methodology). For details on the procedures
reflected here, see the summary below.

                                                                                                                                                                                                     Page 22
Doing Business 2020                                Panama

Figure – Registering Property in Panama and comparator economies – Measure of Quality

              20
                                                                                     17.5
              18                                         16.5
              16                                                                                                 14.0
Index score

                                                                                                                                           13.5
              14                                                                                                                                                  12.0
              12             11.0
              10
               8
               6
               4
               2
               0

                           Panama                     Colombia                      Costa                         El                     Guatemala               Latin
                                                                                    Rica                       Salvador                                         America
                                                                                                                                                                   &
                                                                                                                                                               Caribbean

Details – Registering Property in Panama – Procedure, Time and Cost

  No.              Procedures                                                                                                 Time to Complete       Associated Costs

1                  Obtain a non-encumbrance certificate at the Public Registry Office                                         2 days                 USD 30
                   Agency : Public Registry ("Registro Público de Panamá")
                   Parties obtain a non-encumbrance certificate before starting the transaction to verify if the
                   property has any liens (e.g. mortgages, litigation). This certificate is obtained at the Public Registry
                   of Panamá. In many cases, it is advisable for property sales, that a surveyor is engaged to verify
                   the correct measurements and location of the properties.

              2    Obtain a certificate of good standing online from the Autoridad Nacional de Ingresos                       Less than one day,     Free of charge - online
                   Públicos                                                                                                   online
                   Agency : Tax Agency ("Dirección General Impositiva" - DGI)
                   The seller must obtain a Real Estate Tax Clearance Certificate. In order to obtain this document,
                   the property shall be registered at the Online System of the Directorate General of Revenues
                   (DGI). This certificate can be obtained online since 2009, and the printout must be submitted to
                   the Public Registry. Once submitted, the Public Registry will verify it again online. This certificate
                   can be requested by the individual or entity which has a password to enter the DGI Online System
                   and must have the plot number and the page number (document number) issued by the Public
                   Registry. Note that a land with a value under USD 30,000.00 is exempt of the Real Estate
                   Property Tax. Owners pay this tax according to a progressive scale that ranges from 1.75% on the
                   excess over USD 30,000.00 to 2.10%on the excess over USD 75,000 annually based on the
                   cadastral value of the property.

              3    Obtain a non-debt water certificate ("certificado de Paz y Salvo")                                         1 day                  USD 1.25
                   Agency : Instituto de Acueductos y Alcantarillados Nacionales (I.D.A.A.N.)
                   According to Law 77 of December 28, 2001, it is necessary to submit to the Public Registry a
                   certificate stating that no water bills are owed in order to register the sale and purchase deed. The
                   “certificado de Paz y Salvo” from IDAAN will be issued in 24 hours.

4                  A lawyer prepares the sale agreement                                                                       2 days                 USD 200
                   Agency : Lawyer's office
                   A lawyer usually prepares the sale agreement (it can also be prepared by a real estate broker or a
                   bank). In any case, the sale agreement -called the Minuta- needs to be stamped by a Panamanian
                   lawyer prior to being executed in a public deed. The sale agreement should mention that there are
                   no mortgages or limitations on the property. The documentation shall include: (i) Non-
                   encumbrance certificate (obtained in Procedure 1)

5                  Payment of the Transfer and Capital Gains Taxes                                                            2 days                 USD 14,355.94; (2% of
                   Agency : Autoridad Nacional de Ingresos Públicos (ANIP)                                                                           property value (transfer
                   Prior to filing and recording the public deed at the Public Registry, the Property Transfer Tax                                   tax) + 3% of property value
                   should be paid (if it is not in one of the cases exempted by law) at the Ministry of Economics and                                (capital gains tax - not
                   Finance, by the seller. The transfer tax rate is 2% of the price of the transaction or the cadastral
                                                                                                                                                     included in the cost
                   value, whichever is higher. There is no VAT in Panama for transfers of property (Law No.49 of
                                                                                                                                                     calculation per
                   17th September 2009, which amends the Fiscal Code and adopts other fiscal measure, sets forth
                                                                                                                                                     methodology))
                   the obligation for sellers to pay a sum equivalent to 3% of the total value of the sale or of the
                   cadastral value of the property, whichever is higher, as an advance payment of the Income Tax
                   applicable to any profit resulting from the sale operation. In such cases, the taxpayer may opt to
                   consider such 3% as the definitive Income Tax to be paid for profits earned. However, where such
                   3% advance payment exceeds the amount resulting from application of the nominal rate of such
                   tax, which is 10% of the difference between the real value of the sale and the sum of the cost to
                   acquire the property plus the expenses required to carry out the operation, the seller taxpayer may
                   ask the General Income Directorate for reimbursement of the sums paid in excess, whether in
                   cash or by means of a fiscal credit that can be used to pay other taxes). Previously and since July
                   2006, the 10% of capital gains tax was calculated and paid at the moment of the sale as well as
                   mentioned in the sale act by the notary; the gain was calculated as sales minus buying cost,
                   minus expenses (lawyers, notary fees).

                                                                                                                                                                                   Page 23
You can also read