What this document is
Four adjoining titled lots, sold individually or together. This fact sheet sets out what each one costs, what you pay beyond the price, what the land permits you to build, and where every legal statement comes from.
Each legal reference cites the Gaceta Oficial or the decree it appears in, with the document number. Your attorney can verify all of it without going through us. That is the point of section 08.
This is not a contractual offer. A sale is formalised through a promise-to-purchase agreement and a public deed. It is not tax or legal advice either. The figures here are calculated on list price, so your own advisers should run them against your own situation.
The four lots
Each lot is a separate finca, which is the unit of registered title in Panama. The number beside it is its entry at the Public Registry, and it is the number your attorney will search.
| Lot | Finca no. | Area | Frontage | Buildable | Price | $/m² |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 16A | 29505-7401 | 1,285.74 m² | 32 m | 771 m² | $174,000 | $135.33 |
| 16B | 30279680-7401 | 1,507.26 m² | 25 m | 904 m² | $150,000 | $99.52 |
| 17A | 30279681-7401 | 1,420.68 m² | 23.5 m | 852 m² | $150,000 | $105.58 |
| 17B | 29506-7401 | 1,417.97 m² | 23.5 m | 851 m² | $150,000 | $105.79 |
| All four | · | 5,631.65 m² | 104 m | 3,378 m² | $555,000 | $98.55 |
16A and 16B are contiguous. 17A and 17B are contiguous. Prices in USD, subject to availability. Buying all four costs $69,000 less than the sum of the four list prices.
Which one
16A has the widest frontage at 32 metres, seven more than the next lot, and it is the only one priced above the others.
16B is the largest at 1,507.26 m², and gives the largest buildable footprint of the four: 904 m².
17A and 17B are within three square metres of each other. Bought as a pair they reach $300,000 exactly, which is the residency threshold in section 05.
Behind all four runs a strip of land that cannot be built on. That comes from the zoning, not from an agreement with a neighbour. No one builds behind you.
What you pay
Here is the full cost of acquiring one lot, taking 17B at $150,000 as the worked example.
- Price of the lot17B, finca 29506-7401
- $150,000
- On signing the promise-to-purchase20% of the agreed price, before an attorney, in Spanish
- $30,000
- At the public deedThe balance. Recording at the Public Registry completes the transfer
- $120,000
- Transfer tax (ITBI) and capital gainsPayable by the seller under Panamanian law. You pay neither
- Seller
- Attorney, notary and registry feesQuoted by the attorney you appoint. We do not estimate them for you. Ask for the quote in writing before you sign anything
- Buyer
- Water wellDrilling and its permit, as is standard at Destiladeros. Cost depends on depth
- Buyer
- Annual property taxFrom registration onward. Section 04
- $720/yr
Electricity is Naturgy, at the boundary. Fibre optic is +Móvil, up to 1 Gb. Water is by well. There is no municipal supply to these lots, which is the normal condition for this stretch of coast rather than a defect specific to them.
Annual property tax
Four fincas means four separate entries on the tax scale. Each one carries its own exemption on the first $30,000, and each one sits independently in the lowest taxed bracket.
| Lot | Price | Exempt | Taxable base | Annual tax |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 16A | $174,000 | $30,000 | $144,000 | $864 |
| 16B | $150,000 | $30,000 | $120,000 | $720 |
| 17A | $150,000 | $30,000 | $120,000 | $720 |
| 17B | $150,000 | $30,000 | $120,000 | $720 |
| All four | $555,000 | $120,000 | · | $3,024 |
Four fincas versus one
If the four were consolidated into a single finca, the combined value would climb into the higher brackets and lose three of the four exemptions. They are not consolidated, and there is no reason to consolidate them.
| Combination | Value | As separate fincas | As one finca | Saving |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 16A + 16B | $324,000 | $1,584 | $1,912 | $328 |
| 16B + 17A | $300,000 | $1,440 | $1,720 | $280 |
| 17A + 17B | $300,000 | $1,440 | $1,720 | $280 |
| All four | $555,000 | $3,024 | $3,870 | $846 |
The scale
| Band | Rate |
|---|---|
| $0 – $30,000 | Exempt |
| $30,001 – $250,000 | 0.6% |
| $250,001 – $500,000 | 0.8% |
| Above $500,000 | 1.0% |
Read this before you rely on the figures above. They are calculated on list price. The tax the DGI actually assesses is based on the cadastral value that ANATI holds on record for the finca, which is usually lower. Treat these as an upper reference, and have your tax adviser confirm the figure for your case.
Residency in Panama
The Qualified Investor Programme grants permanent residency to those investing above a set threshold in Panamanian real estate. The threshold is USD 300,000.
That $300,000 figure began as a temporary reduction from $500,000. Executive Decree 193 of 15 October 2024 made it the permanent statutory amount. It has no expiry date and no automatic step back up.
What does exist is an obligation to review the programme every two years, and the next review falls in October 2026. A review is not an expiry. Even so, buying within the threshold in force is the only way to avoid exposure to whatever that review decides.
| Combination | Value | Threshold |
|---|---|---|
| 17A + 17B | $300,000 | Reached |
| 16B + 17A | $300,000 | Reached |
| 16A + 16B | $324,000 | Reached |
| All four | $555,000 | Reached |
Any pair of the contiguous lots reaches it. No single lot does. Residency is direct and permanent, extendable to immediate family under the requirements in force.
The programme requires an ANATI certification of the property's value. This is often misread as something the seller must have resolved before the sale. It is not. It is a step inside the buyer's own immigration file, taken after the purchase. The requirements, amounts and timeframes fall within the competence of the MICI, and final qualification is for your attorney to assess.
What you can build
The four lots are classified UECT1, Medium-Density Ecotourism Land under the Local Land-Use Plan for the District of Pedasí, in force since November 2025.
| Minimum lot size | 1,000 m², and all four lots exceed it |
|---|---|
| Maximum coverage | 60% of the lot area |
| Permitted height | Ground floor plus three · 20 m |
| Permitted uses | Residential · hotel · aparthotel |
That combination is unusual and worth stating plainly. You may build a house, or you may build something that earns. The zoning does not force you to choose at the moment of purchase.
How it closes
-
Identify the lot or lots
Individually, as a contiguous pair, or all four. Availability is confirmed in writing before anything is signed.
-
Promise-to-purchase agreement
In Spanish and before an attorney, with 20% of the agreed price. Appoint your own attorney. Independent legal advice is recommended here, and it is not a formality.
-
Public deed and balance
Recording at the Public Registry of Panama completes the transfer. Title is registered in your name or your company's.
Title
Titled land, recorded at the Public Registry of Panama, with the finca numbers given in section 02. No encumbrance. No nationality restriction on them. Panama uses the US dollar as legal tender, so there is no exchange control and no local-currency devaluation risk on the holding.
Sources
Nothing here rests on our word. Every link below opens the official document itself, not the home page of the ministry that publishes it. Your attorney can open the text itself in one click.
Zoning
- Gaceta Oficial Digital N.º 30412-A · 25 November 2025, 79 pages Contains Municipal Agreement N.º 28 of 18 November 2025, of the Municipal Council of the District of Pedasí, approving the Local Land-Use Plan. This is the primary source for the UECT1 classification of the four lots. Open the Gaceta as PDF Registry record, gacetaoficial.gob.pa/documento/99388
- MIVIOT · PLOT Pedasí, Report 5, Plan Formulation The technical document behind the Agreement. It is where UECT1 is defined, at minimum lot 1,000 m², coverage 60%, and height of ground floor plus three or 20 m. miviot.gob.pa · Informe 5, Formulación del PLOT
- MIVIOT · PLOT Pedasí, Report 2, Territorial Analysis The survey the plan was built on, for anyone who wants the reasoning rather than the rule. miviot.gob.pa · Informe 2, Análisis Territorial
- MiAmbiente · Land-Use Plan for the District of Pedasí miambiente.gob.pa
One practical note. Municipal agreements are not catalogued by the National Assembly, so searching Legispan for Agreement 28 returns nothing at all. The Gaceta’s own advanced search is where it lives.
Residency, the full chain in order
- Executive Decree 722 of 15 October 2020 Creates the Qualified Investor Programme. Sets the real-estate threshold at USD 500,000, with a transitional USD 300,000 for 24 months.
- Executive Decree 109 of 13 October 2022 Extends the transitional threshold from 24 months to 48. Open Decree 109 as PDF, mici.gob.pa
- Executive Decree 193 of 15 October 2024 · Gaceta Oficial N.º 30140-B The decisive one. It converts the reduced USD 300,000 into the permanent statutory amount. Read it and you will find no expiry date and no automatic return to USD 500,000. That is why section 05 speaks of a review and not a deadline. Open Gaceta 30140-B as PDF Copy held by the National Migration Service
- MICI · Qualified Investor Programme The administering ministry. Requirements, amounts, timeframes and documentation are its competence, not ours. mici.gob.pa/inversionista-calificado
Property tax
- Article 766-A of the Fiscal Code, as amended by Law 66 of 2017 Sets the progressive bracketed scale reproduced in section 04 and applies it to each finca separately. The consolidated text has no permanent link. It is reached through the Gaceta’s advanced search, by norm. gacetaoficial.gob.pa · advanced search
- DGI · Directorate General of Revenue The authority that assesses the tax, and on the cadastral value rather than on the price paid. This is the caveat at the end of section 04. dgi.mef.gob.pa