Panama Online Gambling Contract and License

Cost boundary

The key fee is B/.50,000 for each Game License. The Administration and Operation Contract requires a separate B/.500,000 performance bond. Before launch, the operator must also maintain a B/.100,000 prize-payment bond issued by an insurer and present it to the JCJ every year. The applicant pays the full cost of the probity and background investigation, for which no standard public amount is stated. Registration as an online gaming-system supplier costs B/.1,000, and registration of each gaming system costs another B/.1,000. Resolution 11 does not state a B/.20,000 annual operator-license fee or one standard all-in launch budget.

Process timing

Decree Law 2 requires the Director to begin the applicant investigation within 30 days after receiving the application. That is not an approval deadline. The process also requires the investigation, the Director's recommendation, a decision by the JCJ Plenary, Comptroller countersignature of the contract, per-domain licensing, system registration and certification, and a pre-opening inspection. No official end-to-end decision SLA or current median is published. Once issued, each licensed site must begin operations within three months or the Director may cancel that Game License.

Tax / revenue model

The operator pays the JCJ 10% of gross income, defined by Resolution 11 as bets collected minus prizes paid. Payment is due within the first 10 calendar days of each month. Panama's DGI lists a 25% corporate income tax rate on net taxable income for gambling operators. Revenue from players outside Panama should not be described as automatically tax-exempt: income-source treatment depends on where the income-producing activity occurs and the operator's facts, not only on the player's location. Dividend tax and other corporate obligations are separate.

Applicant / local requirements

The applicant must have a legal representative in Panama. A legal entity may be incorporated and organized in Panama or registered as a foreign company in Panama's Public Registry. The operator must maintain offices and a call center in Panama, use an approved .pa domain, disclose ownership through the ultimate beneficial owner, document its funding, and show at least five years of gaming-industry experience. Operations must comply with Law 23 AML requirements. The gaming system must be registered with the JCJ and acquired from a registered supplier. Servers may be located inside or outside Panama, but their exact location must be disclosed and the system must have a compliance certificate from a JCJ-authorized entity.

Term / continuation

A Game License remains valid only for the term of its underlying Administration and Operation Contract, subject to timely revenue-share payments and continuing compliance. The public rules do not establish one universal seven-year term or a standard annual renewal fee. The contract controls its own duration and renewal, while the B/.100,000 prize-payment bond must be presented every year.

Law 527 was published on May 28, 2026 and took effect the following day. It requires player-configurable time and spending limits, risk alerts, biometric identity and age verification for online betting platforms, legally accepted payment methods, payment-security controls, and detection of unusual or risky transactions. It also requires annual JCJ audits and creates a treatment fund financed from 0.5% of operators' annual payments to the Treasury; the final law does not rewrite the 10% revenue-share rate in Resolution 11. Operator violations can draw fines from B/.25,000 to B/.100,000, doubled for repeat violations, with possible license suspension, cancellation, or blocking. Internet providers that ignore JCJ blocking orders face fines from B/.300,000 to B/.1,000,000 per violation. The Executive has six months from promulgation to issue implementing regulations, so the page should be reviewed again before the November 2026 deadline.