Moving guides
From Spain to Panama
What changes in tax when you move from Spain to Panama: what you pay today, what you would pay there and the rules Spain applies when you leave.
What you would save
With €150,000 a year in dividends or foreign income, compared as a genuine resident of each country.
Leaving Spain
- More than 183 days in Spain. You are resident if you spend more than 183 days in Spain in a calendar year. Temporary absences count as days in Spain unless you prove tax residence in another country.
- Main base of business or economic interests. You are resident if the main base or centre of your business activities or economic interests is in Spain, directly or indirectly, even with few days spent there.
- Family presumption. Spain presumes you are resident if your spouse (not legally separated) and dependent minor children live there habitually. You can rebut this with proof.
- Absences in tax havens. If you claim residence in a non-cooperative jurisdiction, the tax agency may require proof that you actually spent 183 days there in the year.
Rules that can follow you after leaving
- Spanish nationals moving to a tax haven stay resident 4 more years. Spanish nationals who move their tax residence to a non-cooperative jurisdiction remain Spanish taxpayers in the year of the move and the following four tax years.
Exit tax in Spain
Ganancias patrimoniales por cambio de residencia (art. 95 bis Ley 35/2006 IRPF)
- Tax resident in Spain for at least 10 of the 15 tax periods before the last one to be declared.
- Shares or fund units with a total market value above EUR 4,000,000, OR a stake above 25% in a company whose market value for that stake is above EUR 1,000,000 (in this second case only those shares are taxed).
Unrealised gain (market value minus acquisition value) is taxed as if sold, as savings income at the savings rates (19% to 30%), declared in the last tax period as resident.
Arriving in Panama
Personal income: 0% abroad · Company tax: 0% abroad
Friendly Nations visa (Spain, UK, US and many others included) or qualified investor visa with immediate permanent residency.
No minimum to keep residency; for the tax certificate, 183 days or a permanent home.
Income earned abroad is not taxed, for people or companies. Opening a bank account as a foreigner is slow.
Living there
Steps to residency
- 4 weeksGather apostilled documents and police record
- 3 weeksMake qualifying investment or deposit (e.g. Friendly Nations or Qualified Investor)
- 1 weeksFile application via Panamanian lawyer at Migracion
- 16 weeksProvisional card, then permanent residence approval
- 4 weeksApply for cedula de extranjero
About 28 weeks in total
Official websites: Tax authority · Immigration
Approximate figures that change often; check them before deciding.