Two very different things share the same name. One is a licensing rule that's fully enforced. The other is a tax-incentive regime whose registration window just closed. Here's the accurate picture.
When a listing or a broker tells you a project "has Law 80 benefits," the honest next question is: which Law 80? There are two threads running through the same statute, and in 2026 only one of them is still doing anything for you. Getting this wrong is how buyers end up expecting a tax exemption that, for new registrations, doesn't currently exist.
Article 21 of Law 80 of 2012, tightened by Executive Decree 82 of 2008, prohibits any rental under 45 days in the Panama District without a public tourism accommodation permit issued by Panama's Tourism Authority (ATP). This is the rule behind every "is Airbnb legal in Panama City" question, and it hasn't been touched, isn't scheduled to be touched, and is the reason we won't sell a city STR unit without a paper permit in hand.
ATP doesn't only act on complaints — it can sanction unlicensed listings directly, including for merely advertising an unpermitted rental. Outside the Panama District — Boquete, Bocas del Toro, Playa Venao, Valle de Antón — this restriction doesn't exist at all, which is why those markets remain the simplest entry point for STR investors.
One Law 80 restricts what you can do. The other used to reward what you built. Only one of them is still active.
The original 2012 law also offered real incentives to registered tourism establishments: up to a 10-year property tax exemption on the land and improvements of a licensed lodging establishment, a 5-year import duty exemption on construction materials, a 10-year exemption on furnishings and equipment, and a tax credit against a project's declared value with ATP.
That framework was amended twice more — Laws 82 and 122 of 2019 extended registration deadlines, and Law 314 of 2022 cut the tax credit from 100% to 60% and shortened bond terms from ten years to five. In May 2023, Panama's Supreme Court struck down the transitory clause that had briefly restored the 100% credit, ruling it unconstitutional. Then, after Panama's hotel association (Apatel) pushed back over abuses enabled by Laws 122 and 314 and a lack of prior consultation with the sector, both of those amending laws were repealed.
The result: the deadline to register a new project in the National Tourism Registry to qualify for these fiscal incentives expired December 31, 2025. As of mid-2026, ATP is drafting a replacement law — expected to move away from tax credits entirely and toward income tax, property tax, and import exemptions across a broader set of tourism products (hotels, marinas, piers, attractions), differentiated by project type, location, and sustainability. Nothing has passed yet.
If a project markets active "Law 80 tax benefits" in 2026, ask for the actual ATP recognition certificate and its registration date. Projects registered before December 31, 2025 may still carry their incentive term to expiry; anything not yet registered has no current legal basis until the replacement law is passed — a developer quoting you a fiscal credit today is quoting you a policy that doesn't yet exist. The STR licensing requirement, by contrast, isn't going anywhere, and it's the one document that actually protects you before you buy into a "legal Airbnb" pitch: the ATP permit, on paper, current, in the building or unit's name.
We verify both — registration status and STR licensing — before we put a project in front of a client. Generation Tower in Costa del Este is a straightforward example: an active ATP license, on paper, not a promise. If you're evaluating something that leans on either claim, send it over and we'll check it against the registry before you commit.