Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes Peer Reviews: Panama 2016: Phase 2: Implementation of the Standard in Practice

158 Pages·2016·1.888 MB·English

by  Organization for Economic Cooperation & Development

Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information GLOBAL FORUM ON TRANSPARENCY AND EXCHANGE
for Tax Purposes
OF INFORMATION FOR TAX PURPOSES
PEER REVIEWS, PHASE 2: PANAMA
This report contains a “Phase 2: Implementation of the Standards in Practice” review,
as well as revised version of the “Phase 1: Legal and Regulatory Framework review”
already released for this country. Peer Review Report
The Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes is
the multilateral framework within which work in the area of tax transparency and exchange Phase 2
of information is carried out by over 130 jurisdictions which participate in the work
of the Global Forum on an equal footing.
Implementation of the Standard
The Global Forum is charged with in-depth monitoring and peer review of the implementation
of the standards of transparency and exchange of information for tax purposes. in Practice
These standards are primarily refl ected in the 2002 OECD Model Agreement on Exchange
of Information on Tax Matters and its commentary, and in Article 26 of the OECD Model Tax
Convention on Income and on Capital and its commentary as updated in 2004, which has PANAMA
been incorporated in the UN Model Tax Convention.
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The standards provide for international exchange on request of foreseeably relevant er R
information for the administration or enforcement of the domestic tax laws of a requesting e
v
party. “Fishing expeditions” are not authorised, but all foreseeably relevant information ie
w
must be provided, including bank information and information held by fi duciaries, regardless R
e
of the existence of a domestic tax interest or the application of a dual criminality standard. p
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All members of the Global Forum, as well as jurisdictions identifi ed by the Global Forum t P
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as relevant to its work, are being reviewed. This process is undertaken in two phases. as
e
Phase 1 reviews assess the quality of a jurisdiction’s legal and regulatory framework 2
for the exchange of information, while Phase 2 reviews look at the practical implementation Im
p
of that framework. Some Global Forum members are undergoing combined – Phase 1 le
m
plus Phase 2 – reviews. The ultimate goal is to help jurisdictions to effectively implement e
n
the international standards of transparency and exchange of information for tax purposes. ta
tio
All review reports are published once approved by the Global Forum and they thus represent n
o
agreed Global Forum reports. f th
For more information on the work of the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange e S
of Information for Tax Purposes, and for copies of the published review reports, please visit ta
n
www.oecd.org/tax/transparency and www.eoi-tax.org. da
rd
in
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Consult this publication on line at http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/9789264266162-en. P
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This work is published on the OECD iLibrary, which gathers all OECD books, periodicals and N
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statistical databases. M
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Visit www.oecd-ilibrary.org for more information.
ISBN 978-92-64-26615-5
23 2016 46 1 P

Global Forum
on Transparency
and Exchange
of Information for Tax
Purposes Peer Reviews:
Panama 2016
PHASE 2:
IMPLEMENTATION OF THE STANDARD IN PRACTICE
November 2016
(reflecting the legal and regulatory framework
as atAugust 2016)
ThisworkispublishedontheresponsibilityoftheSecretary-GeneraloftheOECD.
Theopinionsexpressedandargumentsemployedhereindonotnecessarilyreflect
theofficialviewsoftheOECDorofthegovernmentsofitsmembercountriesor
thoseoftheGlobalForumonTransparencyandExchangeofInformationforTax
Purposes.
Thisdocumentandanymapincludedhereinarewithoutprejudicetothestatusof
orsovereigntyoveranyterritory,tothedelimitationofinternationalfrontiersand
boundariesandtothenameofanyterritory,cityorarea.
Pleasecitethispublicationas:
OECD(2016),GlobalForumonTransparencyandExchangeofInformationforTaxPurposesPeer
Reviews:Panama2016:Phase2:ImplementationoftheStandardinPractice,OECDPublishing.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/9789264266162-en
ISBN978-92-64-26615-5(print)
ISBN978-92-64-26616-2(PDF)
Series:GlobalForumonTransparencyandExchangeofInformationforTaxPurposesPeerReviews
ISSN2219-4681(print)
ISSN2219-469X(online)
CorrigendatoOECDpublicationsmaybefoundonlineat:www.oecd.org/publishing/corrigenda.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS – 3
Table of Contents
About the Global Forum                                             5
Abbreviations                                                      7
Executive summary                                                  9
Introduction                                                       17
Introduction and methodology used for the peer review of Panama          17
Overview of Panama                                               19
Compliance with the Standards                                       25
A. Availability of information                                        25
Overview                                                        25
A1 Ownership and identity information                               30
A2 Accounting records                                            76
A3 Banking information                                           82
B. Access to information                                             87
Overview                                                        87
B1 Competent Authority’s ability to obtain and provide information        89
B2 Notification requirements and rights and safeguards                 104
C. Exchanging information                                         107
Overview                                                       107
C1 Exchange-of-information mechanisms                            109
C2 Exchange-of-information mechanisms with all relevant partners       117
C3 Confidentiality                                               119
C4 Rights and safeguards of taxpayers and third parties                 123
C5 Timeliness of responses to requests for information                  125
PEER REVIEW REPORT – PHASE 2 – PANAMA © OECD 2016
4 – TABLE OF CONTENTS
Summary of determinations and factors underlying recommendations     139
Annex 1: Jurisdiction’s response to the review report                   147
Annex 2: List of all exchange of information mechanisms                150
Annex 3: List of all laws, regulations and other material received         152
PEER REVIEW REPORT – PHASE 2 – PANAMA © OECD 2016
ABOUT THE GLOBAL FORUM – 5
About the Global Forum
The Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for
Tax Purposes is the multilateral framework within which work in the area
of tax transparency and exchange of information is carried out by over
130 jurisdictions, which participate in the Global Forum on an equal footing
The Global Forum is charged with in-depth monitoring and peer
review of the implementation of the international standards of transpar-
ency and exchange of information for tax purposes These standards are
primarily reflected in the 2002 OECD Model Agreement on Exchange of
Information on Tax Matters and its commentary, and in Article 26 of the
OECD Model Tax Convention on Income and on Capital and its commen-
tary as updated in 2004 The standards have also been incorporated into
the UN Model Tax Convention
The standards provide for international exchange on request of fore-
seeably relevant information for the administration or enforcement of the
domestic tax laws of a requesting party Fishing expeditions are not authorised
but all foreseeably relevant information must be provided, including bank
information and information held by fiduciaries, regardless of the existence
of a domestic tax interest or the application of a dual criminality standard
All members of the Global Forum, as well as jurisdictions identified by
the Global Forum as relevant to its work, are being reviewed This process is
undertaken in two phases Phase 1 reviews assess the quality of a jurisdic-
tion’s legal and regulatory framework for the exchange of information, while
Phase 2 reviews look at the practical implementation of that framework Some
Global Forum members are undergoing combined – Phase 1 and Phase 2 –
reviews The Global Forum has also put in place a process for supplementary
reports to follow-up on recommendations, as well as for the ongoing monitor-
ing of jurisdictions following the conclusion of a review The ultimate goal is
to help jurisdictions to effectively implement the international standards of
transparency and exchange of information for tax purposes
All review reports are published once approved by the Global Forum
and they thus represent agreed Global Forum reports
For more information on the work of the Global Forum on Transparency
and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes, and for copies of the pub-
lished review reports, please refer to wwwoecdorg/tax/transparency and
wwweoi-taxorg
PEER REVIEW REPORT – PHASE 2 – PANAMA © OECD 2016

ABBREVIATIONS – 7
Abbreviations
ANIP National Public Revenue Authority (Autoridad Nacional
de Ingresos Públicos)
AML Anti-Money laundering
BHN Banco Hipotecario Nacional
CRS Common Reporting Standard
CDD Customer due diligence
DNFBP Designated Non-Financial Business Professions
DGI Directorate General of Revenues
CTF Counter Terrorism Financing
DTC Double Tax Conventions
EOI Exchange of information
FATF Financial Action Task Force
ICIJ International Consortium of Investigative Journalists
IPACOOP Panamanian Autonomous Institute for Cooperatives
OECD Organisation for Economic Co-operation and
Development
SA Joint-stock corporations (sociedad anónima)
SRL limited liability companies (sociedad de responsabilidad
limitada)
SBP Superintendence of Banks
SMV Superintendence of the Securities Market
SSRP Superintendence of Insurance and Reinsurance
PEER REVIEW REPORT – PHASE 2 – PANAMA © OECD 2016
8 – ABBREVIATIONS
SWIFT Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial
Telecommunication
TIEA Tax Information Exchange Agreement
TIN Tax Identification Number
PEER REVIEW REPORT – PHASE 2 – PANAMA © OECD 2016