With a majority vote, Project 591, which criminalizes tax evasion in the Criminal Code and is considered a crime resulting from money laundering, was approved in the third debate, informed the Legislative Assembly.

“The project establishes in article 288 G that anyone who, for personal benefit or the benefit of a third party and with the intention of committing tax fraud against the National Treasury, affects the correct tax determination to stop paying all or part of those taxes, shall be punished with a prison sentence of two to four years.”

The institution specified that the penalty provided in this article will only be applicable when the amount defrauded in a fiscal period of one year is equal to or greater than $300,000 dollars, without including fines, surcharges and interest in the calculation of the amount. If it is less, the competence will pass to the tax administrative sphere.

The Ministry of Economy and Finance explained in a statement that “… this law punishes the great evader who harms the Treasury by intentionally defrauding for more than 300,000 balboas, this being a taxpayer with taxable income of more than 1.25 million balboas per year.”

The minister, Eyda Varela de Chinchilla, detailed that “… This project, presented and promoted by the Ministry of Economy and Finance, will not have an impact on most Panamanian taxpayers, as only 81 legal entities are included in this range of taxable income.”

See MEF’ s and Legislative Assembly’s press release.