Cryptocurrencies in Panama

History

2022: It became possible to pay taxes with cryptocurrency

At the end of April 2022, lawmakers in Panama, a Latin American country with a reputation for tax asylum, approved a bill that would regulate the use of Bitcoin and eight other cryptocurrencies and approve their use for tax payments and for private transactions.

The bill says that citizens, banks and legal entities in Panama will be allowed to use several cryptocurrencies as a means of payment without restrictions. These include: Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP, Litecoin, XDC Network, Elrond, Stellar, IOTA and Algorand. These currencies will be accepted as payment in both civil and commercial circulation, the bill says.

In Panama, allowed to pay taxes with cryptocurrency

{{quote 'This will help Panama become the center of innovation and technology in Latin America. The relevant law was adopted by the Panamanian Parliament. The document takes three months to create an infrastructure that will allow you to accept payments in cryptocurrency, said Gabriel Silva, a Panamanian legislator. }} Panama's adoption of this law will allow it to follow in the footsteps El Salvador and, of the Central African Republic both countries have already approved Bitcoin as the official currency. In Panama, however, it will not be mandatory to accept, cryptocurrencies that is, they will not be legal tender per se. According to the bill, tokenization of precious metals and other goods will also be allowed in accordance with the new law. At the same time, for accounting purposes, the law emphasizes that the legalization of Bitcoin does not mean a complete replacement, it will dollar USA continue to be used in accounting as the base currency.

The bill says Panama will launch an official digital wallet similar to the Salvadoran Chivo app so that residents can safely transact with these data technologies.^[1]

Notes