Taxes will be deducted from U.S. firms

U.S firms conducting events in Panama will declare in their country.

After the ratification the of the U.S.-Panama Trade Promotion Agreement, sometimes called a Free Trade Agreement (FTA), on June 28, 2007 and the signing of the Tax Information Exchange Agreement (TIEA) on April 18, 2011, negotiations have been felicitated for entrepreneurs from both counties.

Yesterday, Salomón Shamah, General Administrator of the Tourism Authority of Panama, stated that U.S business expenses generated through conferences, conventions, seminars, and meetings held in Panama will be deducted from their income tax returns in their country.

“This represents a step toward the development of tourism and the positioning of Panama as a destination for conventions and meetings,” Shamah stated.

According to Annette Cárdenas, President of the Panamanian Chamber of Tourism, “it is a benefit to sell a destination with a value added like this.”

“The market for conventions and groups represents 20% of our sales. Years ago, our people invested millions of dollars in facilities, targeting further growth in this market,” according to Maru Gálvez, CEO of RG Hotels, Playa Blanca Hotel Operator and Royalton.

“With this great news, we can now grow in the U.S market, being that most of the groups of visitors were from Latin American,” he added.

On the other hand, Juan Carlos Arias, President of the American Chamber of Commerce, indicated that they have more than 460 members to promote this news throughout the United States.