Country guide

Panama

Panama uses the Registro Único de Contribuyentes (RUC) as the tax identifier for natural and legal persons. Natural-person RUCs are based on the personal identity card number, legal-person RUCs are based on Public Registry registration data, and DGI assigns Número Tributario (NT) identifiers to certain foreign persons and special entity or arrangement cases.

PA PAN 5 TIN types Last reviewed 2026-06-05

TIN types

5 published formats. Open a type to see examples, structure details, and official sources.

Validate Panama TIN

Panama RUC – Persona Natural

Current Individuals

Dirección General de Ingresos (Directorate General of Revenue) / Tribunal Electoral (Electoral Tribunal)

RUC for natural persons; for Panamanian citizens and legally domiciled foreigners with a cédula, it uses the personal identity card number.

Details

Examples

8-100-678 PE-5-687 N-19-473 E-8-74258

Where to find it

On the personal identity card, driver's licence, passport photo page, RUC registration documents, and DGI tax records.

Common names

RUC Registro Único de Contribuyentes Cédula de Identidad Personal C.I.P.

Structure

1 or 1-2 Status or province segment A province or region code for Panamanian citizens by birth, or PE, N, or E for specific personal-status cases.

remaining characters Registry sequence Volume, entry, or application-order details from the relevant civil or identity register.

Official source

dgi.mef.gob.pa oecd.org

Panama RUC – Persona Jurídica (Real Folio 2 – Comercial, 2014+)

Current Entities

Registro Público de Panamá (Public Registry of Panama) / Dirección General de Ingresos (Directorate General of Revenue)

Current RUC structure for commercial legal persons registered under the electronic real-folio system from 24 October 2014 onward.

Details

Examples

155986022-2-2019

Where to find it

In DGI tax returns and tax forms, and in legal or Public Registry documents used for entity registration.

Common names

RUC Registro Único de Contribuyentes Real Folio 2

Structure

1-9+ Real folio Sequential Public Registry folio for the legal person.

after folio Commercial marker Marker 2 identifies commercial-company records.

last 4 Registration year Year of registration under the real-folio structure.

Official source

dgi.mef.gob.pa oecd.org

Panama RUC – Persona Jurídica (Real Folio 3 – No Comercial, 2014+)

Current Entities

Registro Público de Panamá (Public Registry of Panama) / Dirección General de Ingresos (Directorate General of Revenue)

Current RUC structure for non-commercial legal persons registered under the electronic real-folio system from 24 October 2014 onward.

Details

Examples

26631254-3-2020

Where to find it

In DGI tax returns and tax forms, and in legal or Public Registry documents used for entity registration.

Common names

RUC Registro Único de Contribuyentes Real Folio 3

Structure

1-8+ Real folio Sequential Public Registry folio for the legal person.

after folio Non-commercial marker Marker 3 identifies non-commercial entity records.

last 4 Registration year Year of registration under the real-folio structure.

Official source

dgi.mef.gob.pa oecd.org

Panama RUC – Persona Jurídica (Legacy pre-2014)

Legacy Entities

Registro Público de Panamá (Public Registry of Panama) / Dirección General de Ingresos (Directorate General of Revenue)

Legacy RUC structure for legal persons registered before the electronic real-folio format introduced in 2014.

Details

Examples

4789-321-1515

Where to find it

In DGI tax returns and tax forms, and in older legal or Public Registry documents.

Common names

RUC Registro Único de Contribuyentes Legacy entity RUC

Official source

dgi.mef.gob.pa oecd.org

Panama RUC – Número Tributario (NT)

Current Individuals Entities

Dirección General de Ingresos (Directorate General of Revenue)

RUC variant assigned by DGI as a Número Tributario for foreign natural persons and for foreign or special legal-person, entity, or arrangement cases that do not use a standard cédula or Public Registry RUC.

Details

Examples

3-NT-3-33 NT123456

Where to find it

On DGI NT registration records and DGI tax documents; the RUC registration form labels the natural-person field as cédula or NT.

Common names

NT Número Tributario RUC NT

Structure

variable NT marker The letters NT identify the number as a DGI Número Tributario.

remaining characters Assigned sequence DGI-assigned alphanumeric sequence for the taxpayer.

Official source

dgi.mef.gob.pa oecd.org