Panama Gambling License: JCJ Costs and Requirements in 2026
Panama is a real licensing jurisdiction with a regulator, a signed regulation, and exact fees on the record. Almost none of the numbers that circulate about it match that record.
Resolution 11 of 2020 says it all in 54 signed pages, key money and bonds included, and the 10 percent in it carries no offshore exception. Where the register should be, there is a hole.
Every figure on this page comes from official documents. Last verified July 13, 2026.
Our verdict
Panama costs more and demands more than its offshore reputation suggests. The regulation is signed, current, and specific: B/.50,000 in key money per licensed domain, B/.600,000 across two bonds, a 10 percent monthly share of gross gaming income with no offshore exception anywhere in the text, plus mandatory offices and a call center in Panama and five years of provable gaming experience at the top of the company. The package agencies sell, 40 thousand in, 20 thousand a year, zero tax on foreign players, matches nothing in Resolution 11. What Panama lacks is a public register: the JCJ has not published an operator list since 2020, so a Panama license cannot be checked against an official list the way a Curacao or Malta one can. A 2026 law adds biometric verification and statutory blocking, with implementing rules due late in the year.
What the license costs
The B/.50,000 key money is the cheap part. The real commitment is B/.600,000 locked in two bonds and 10 percent of gross gaming income every month.
| Fee | Amount | When |
|---|---|---|
| License fee, per gaming license | B/.50,000 | One time, after the Contraloría countersigns the contract |
| Compliance bond | B/.500,000 | Lodged with the contract |
| Prize-payment bond | B/.100,000 | Annually, before operating |
| State revenue share | 10% of gross gaming income | Monthly, first 10 calendar days |
| Supplier registration | B/.1,000 | Per platform supplier, certified check |
| Gaming-system registration | B/.1,000 | Per system, with a compliance certificate from an authorized testing entity |
| Work credential | B/.50 | Per employee |
| Fines | Up to B/.100,000 | Per breach, doubled on recidivism |
| Agency-quoted $40,000 setup and $20,000 annual renewal | Not in the regulation | Agency price lists only |
Source: JCJ Resolution No. 11 of March 6, 2020 (signed text, hosted by the MEF)
The first-year math
A single-domain first year in official fees is B/.50,000 in key money plus B/.600,000 tied up across the two bonds, background-investigation costs at the applicant's expense, and 10 percent of gross gaming income monthly from the first bet. The zero-percent offshore tax that agencies advertise does not exist in the text: article 3 pulls players outside Panama into the regime, and article 15's 10 percent carries no geographic carve-out. If individual contracts negotiate different economics, they are not public, which is exactly the problem.
Requirements
Experience and background checks
At least five years of gaming-industry experience, held personally by the majority shareholder or the company president. The Director investigates everyone down to the ultimate beneficial owner, with a ten-year lookback across criminal, commercial, and financial records, at the applicant's cost.
A Panama company with prescribed clauses
A Panamanian entity or registered foreign company with a legal representative in Panama and a Panamanian attorney fronting the application. The deed of incorporation must carry the prescribed gaming object clause, and no share issuance or transfer is valid without JCJ conformity, with the JCJ able to freeze dividends of shareholders it deems unfit.
Real local substance
Offices and a call center in Panama are mandatory, and inspectors and auditors get access at their discretion. Servers may sit inside or outside the country, but the location is declared and the system carries a compliance certificate from a JCJ-registered testing entity either way, bought from a registered supplier.
Key person certificates
Every officer, director, trusted employee, and shareholder needs a Certificado de Idoneidad from the Director, every employee a work credential, and a denied or revoked certificate forces immediate termination. Certificates suspend automatically if the holder comes under criminal investigation.
How the application runs
The process runs through Panamanian counsel to a two-body decision, and no official timeline is stated anywhere. The three-to-eight-month figure that circulates is agency-published.
- 1
Petition through counsel
A memorial petitorio with the full disclosure dossier: business plan, UBO chain, ten-year backgrounds, financing sources, three years of audited financials and tax returns, all contracts of the operation.
- 2
Investigation and recommendation
The Director's probity investigation, with power to summon anyone named in the file, then a reasoned recommendation to the JCJ board.
- 3
Board resolution and countersignature
The Pleno grants or refuses the administration contract, and the Contraloría General countersigns it. Withdrawing after a ruling on desistment locks the applicant out for a year.
- 4
Pay and launch
3 months to go liveB/.50,000 per license, licenses issued by Director resolution, pre-opening inspection, and written authorization to start. Each licensed site must begin operating within three months or the license can be cancelled.
Licensing timeline
It all still rests on the 1998 decree. The rules on top have been rewritten twice, most recently in 2020, and Ley 527's implementing regulations are due around November 2026.
Decreto Ley 2 signed
Decreto Ley 2: gambling is a state fiscal prerogative administered through the JCJ, including gambling offered abroad by electronic means, with operation contracted to third parties.
The online era opens
Resolution 65 creates the first regulation for games of chance through electronic communication systems.
The current rulebook
Resolution 11 replaces the 2002 text: the contract-plus-licenses architecture, the fees and bonds on this page, the .pa domain rule, and the designated-operator role with full vetting.
Ley 527
The problem-gambling law: mandatory biometric identity and age verification online, facial recognition in casinos, statutory blocking of unlicensed sites and apps, and fines of B/.25,000 to 100,000. Implementing regulations are due around November 2026.
Registers and official documents
The regime is real but the register is not: no current list of licensed online operators exists, and the last operator-adjacent publications date to 2019 and 2020.
Frequently asked
What operators ask before picking this jurisdiction, answered from the official record.
How much does a Panama gambling license cost?+
B/.50,000 one time per gaming license, with one license per web domain and up to five per contract, plus a B/.500,000 compliance bond and a B/.100,000 prize bond renewed annually. The recurring cost is 10 percent of gross gaming income paid monthly. The balboa is pegged one to one to the US dollar, so read those as dollar figures.
Is there really no annual renewal fee?+
No annual license renewal fee exists in Resolution 11, and the 40 thousand setup plus 20 thousand renewal package that agencies quote matches nothing in the text. The recurring obligations on the record are the 10 percent revenue share and the annual prize bond. The resolution also sets no term for the contract or licenses, so the validity periods agencies cite have no source in it.
Is offshore revenue really taxed at 0%?+
Not on the record. Article 15 sets a flat 10 percent of gross gaming income with no geographic carve-out, and article 3 defines the regime to cover play by players inside or outside Panama. Panama's general territorial income-tax rules are a separate matter and are not a gaming-fee exemption. If individual administration contracts negotiate different economics, those contracts are not public.
What presence do I need in Panama?+
Offices and a call center in the country, both mandatory, with JCJ inspectors given access at their discretion. A Panamanian entity or registered foreign company, a local legal representative, Panamanian counsel for the application, key person certificates for everyone senior, and five years of gaming experience held personally at the top of the company. This is real substance, not a mailbox regime.
Can I verify a Panama license?+
Not against any current official list. The JCJ publishes no register of licensed online operators, the last supplier list dates to October 2020, and the handful of Panama-facing brands named in industry sources cannot be checked against anything official. For a regime this real, the missing register is the genuine weakness.
What changes with Ley 527?+
Passed in May 2026: mandatory biometric identity and age verification on online platforms, facial recognition in casinos, statutory power to block unlicensed websites, apps, and IPs, and fines of B/.25,000 to 100,000 escalating to license suspension. The Executive has six months to issue implementing regulations, so the operational details land around November 2026.
Where to go from here
Panama sits between the offshore tier and a real market license.