A bill now before the National Assembly would formalize the roughly 13,000 short-stay rentals operating in a legal gray zone — and a separate fiscal bill could touch the tax rate on every booking. Neither is law yet. Both are worth understanding before you buy.
Panama's short-term rental market has operated for years under a rule most hosts don't fully comply with: Law 80 of 2012 bans stays under 45 days inside the Panama District without a public tourism accommodation permit from the Tourism Authority (ATP), with fines from $5,000 to $50,000 per violation. Reporting on the current Assembly debate puts the number of listings operating without that permit at roughly 13,000 — a gap between what the law says and what the market actually does that two separate bills are now trying to close.
Deputy Neftalí Omar Zamora introduced Proyecto de Ley 301, which regulates short-term tourist leasing of residential property directly. Its stated aims, per reporting on the bill: formalize an activity that today operates largely outside the law, establish fair-competition terms with the licensed hotel sector, and strengthen tax enforcement over short-stay lodging. Airbnb's public policy team for Central America and the Caribbean has met with Deputy Zamora on the proposal, reportedly viewing Panama's approach as a possible template for other markets in the region — a signal this is being built as a formalization framework, not a prohibition.
Update, September 21: the tax question is no longer a vague industry ask. Bill 31-26 — the same tourism-incentives law we cover separately — modifies the Fiscal Code directly, setting a differentiated ITBMS: 10% for registered hotels and public tourism lodging, and 15% for short-stay tourist or vacation rentals of houses, apartments, rooms or similar residential property, whether booked directly with the owner or through a platform like Airbnb. The ATP has said the 15% figure came out of consultation with the Panama Hotel Association (APATEL), which had recommended that minimum rate for vacation rentals specifically to differentiate them from regulated hotels.
PL 301 (formalizing unlicensed listings) hasn't passed, and remained under consideration as of late August. Bill 31-26's tax provision is further along — presented to the full Assembly with specific numbers attached. Both still point the same direction: toward a licensed, taxed, professionally operated short-term rental sector — and away from the informal one that currently makes up most of Panama's roughly 13,000 Airbnb-type units, versus about 25,000 traditional hotel rooms, per ATP figures.
Every project we place clients in — Kyte*, Passage Amador, Euphoria, The Hub, Uptown, Generation Tower — is either ATP-licensed or professionally operated within the current legal framework. If PL 301 tightens enforcement on the unlicensed majority, licensed inventory doesn't get swept up in that; it becomes the compliant alternative buyers and operators increasingly prefer.
A 15% ITBMS on bookings is a line item on nightly rate calculations — the kind of variable our STR yield calculator already lets you stress-test. It doesn't change what you paid for the unit or its resale value; it changes net operating income at the margin, and it's 5 points higher than the 10% hotels pay.
Both bills address the Panama District's 45-day rule specifically. Boquete, Bocas del Toro, Playa Venao and Valle de Antón already operate without that restriction, and neither proposal changes that.
None of this is legal or tax advice, and Bill 31-26 can still be amended, delayed, or shelved before its three required debates conclude — Panama's legislative calendar has done all three to real estate-adjacent bills before. What's worth tracking now is a specific number (15% ITBMS on bookings) attached to a specific bill, not just a direction. We flag material developments to clients holding or evaluating STR product as they happen, and our existing coverage of the current legal framework is in Short-Term Rentals in Panama: The Legal Framework and our Bill 31-26 breakdown.
*Kyte has closed its doors to purchase for now. We have similar projects confirmed to launch, with comparable features. Book your call →