CPA Data Panama simplifies accounting for companies in Panama and other offshore jurisdictions doing business outside the country or holding assets

OFFSHORE COMPANIES IN PANAMA AND OTHER OFFSHORE JURISDICTIONS, REAL ESTATE HOLDING COMPANIES, AND INACTIVE COMPANIES MUST FILE ACCOUNTS IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE LAW

Recent laws have established the company's accounting obligation for offshore companies in Panama and other offshore jurisdictions, as well as for real estate holding companies.

Although offshore companies in Panama and other offshore jurisdictions are those that do NOT conduct domestic operations, the new laws require them the company’s accounting obligation for offshore companies.These laws have taken both investors and resident agents by surprise, as they have been burdened with additional work as well as facing additional expenses. This is another step toward meeting the requirements of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF).

Two years ago, the FATF placed Panama and other offshore jurisdictions on its “gray” list of countries with alleged money laundering control deficiencies. The FATF believes the country has not yet complied with the agreement. To exert further pressure, the FATF has threatened to move Panama to the “black” list, which includes only Iran and North Korea.

These legislations are related to international fiscal transparency, prevention of money laundering and financing the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.

What will change in accounting for companies in Panama and other offshore jurisdictions?

For companies that operate and pay taxes within their own national territory, there are no major changes, except that they will have to report to the Resident Agent where they keep their accounts.

Among the changes introduced, all legal entities that do not conduct operations within their own national territory, as well as those that are only asset holders, will be required to keep accounting records. In addition, they will have to keep supporting documentation.

These laws mainly change the obligations of companies that do NOT conduct business within the national territory.

Real estate holding companies and inactive companies

The role of resident agents is also updated. These accounting records, as well as supporting documents, will have to be kept for a minimum period of five years. To determine the date, the last day of the calendar year in which transactions appearing in these accounting records were executed will be considered.

Legal entities will have to provide information demonstrating the value of the assets they hold, as well as the income derived therefrom and the liabilities associated with those assets. In contrast, legal persons operating outside the national territory will have to provide a journal and ledger.

All these records will have to be kept by the resident agent, in his office or elsewhere, inside or outside the country. Companies owned by an international, multilateral or state organization are also exempt.

Owners or charterers of ships registered in the International Merchant Marine Service of Panama and other offshore jurisdictions are exempt.

Legal entities that do not conduct operations in the national territory, as well as those that are only holders of assets, will likewise be required to keep accounting records.

Don't despair, CPA Data Panama's accounting forms solve your problems!

Downloadable app features:

Valid license to maintain the accounting of 3 companies

Multilingual (Spanish, English, Italian)

You can upload files of invoices, receipts, notes

You can print the initial, monthly and annual balance sheets in PDF

Your accountant can add their logo and name to the opinion

Program hosted in the cloud

What will change as a result of the company's accounting obligation for offshore companies in Panama and other jurisdictions?

In operational terms, to bring themselves into compliance with the law, most offshore companies are required to plan a budget to create an accounting structure capable of creating informative output as required by law.

We at CPA Data Panama have already created some very useful forms to minimize the time and amount of investment required.

In order to save money and gain efficiency, the first thing to do is to have a good and simple accounting system built specifically for offshore companies in Panama and other jurisdictions, i.e., companies that do not operate in the country, real estate holding companies, and asset holding companies.

The modules are easy to use and allow a language choice of Spanish, English and Italian. Accounting is organized according to the standards required by most offshore jurisdictions.

Adopting CPA Data Panama forms will save you many hours of accounting work while reducing errors and the time wasted correcting them.

In addition, the CPA Data Panama forms will be a support tool for the resident agent who is responsible for representing the offshore company before government authorities.