Custom duty on car import to Panama from the US

Theoretically it all sounds very easy but in real life there are many obstacles that you can face while you try to import your car to Panama from the USA. For a legal transfer of the car, you need to possess the clear title which includes something more than just being the registered owner of the car. Firstly you need to be the outright car owner and along with it you also need to have a transferable title in your personal name. In case your car is leased or even financed, you will have no legal rights to import the car. If your car is titled to a corporation, the first thing you need to do is to prove that the corporation has willfully allowed the import of the car.

There are certain duties and taxes that need to be paid while importing the car to Panama. According to sources the import duty charged in Panama is approximately 18 percent. There is something called ITBM that also need to be paid apart from the import duty. ITBM is actually the transfer or value tax and the amount payable is 7 percent. It is however, the import officials who decide the value of the car. A car that costs around $10000 will be charged $1800 as import duty fee and $700 as the ITBM tax. For all those who are Pensionado are entitled a free car duty once in 2 years. Some people are also of the opinion that it is wiser to buy a car in Panama rather than importing one from USA as the latter turns out to be more expensive than the former most of the times.