🇵🇦 Panama

Anyone not already insured through a job, foreigners included, can apply to the Caja de Seguro Social (CSS) voluntary scheme with a passport and a sworn asset declaration, subject to CSS medical exams. The Short-Stay Remote Worker visa (9 months, renewable once) requires private medical insurance valid in Panama for the whole stay. Official sources give conflicting minimum contributions for foreigners, so confirm costs with the CSS.

Tip: pair with travel-medical + medical-evacuation cover.

Not taxed. Only Panama-source income is.

Panama taxes income produced in Panama. You are a fiscal resident after more than 183 days in the country, consecutive or alternating, in the tax year or the one immediately before. Residency and tax liability are separate questions here — being resident does not pull your foreign income into the Panamanian net, which is the whole appeal. Income paid to someone outside Panama for a service benefiting someone inside it is treated as a remesa and handled separately.

Not tax advice — confirm with a local professional.

English is widely used in Panama City business, banking and tourism and in Caribbean Creole communities, but limited elsewhere.