Panama: Guidance on FATCA, CRS, and portal registration

The Panama tax authority on October 23, 2025, issued its guidance on the FATCA and common reporting standard (CRS) to provide Panamanian reporting financial institutions with additional information on interpreting the legal framework, conducting due diligence procedures, fulfilling reporting obligations, and meeting administrative responsibilities.

Key updates to the guidance include the following:

• Electronic acknowledgment: Upon submission of FATCA and CRS reports, the Directorate General of Revenue (DGI) portal now performs automated validations and issues an electronic acknowledgment, which serves as conclusive proof of compliance for the relevant reporting period.
• Formal authorization contract: A formal contract or power of attorney is required to authorize a sponsoring entity to act on behalf of the sponsored entity for FATCA compliance, including collecting confidential account holder information and submitting reports on its behalf.
• Reducing process duplication: The guidance clarifies that, under Article 7 of Decreto Ejecutivo No. 124, reporting financial institutions may apply due diligence procedures for pre-existing accounts to new accounts opened by existing account holders. This reduces process duplication and improves operational efficiency.
• Collecting place of birth: For individual account holders classified as reportable, collection of the place of birth is now mandatory for CRS purposes.

Additionally, the DGI has published a step-by-step guide for registering reporting financial institutions on the DGI portal. Reporting financial institutions must provide accurate and timely registration to meet annual reporting requirements.

Read a December 2025 report prepared by the KPMG member firm in Panama