Bill 245.

Summary.

The bill creates the Micro and Small Enterprise Acceleration Program to support economic units and micro and small enterprises through funding and guidance. Its resources would be awarded through a competitive process to formal businesses in urban, rural, and indigenous regions that have operated continuously for at least 24 months. Applicants would have to have filed their 2 most recent income tax returns with the Directorate General of Revenue (Dirección General de Ingresos). Those selected could receive funding, training, and technical assistance to carry out their business plans.

Article 5 of Law 8 of 2000 would be amended to define microenterprises, small enterprises, subsistence economic units, and accumulation economic units by annual gross revenue. The program would be attached to the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise Authority (Autoridad de la Micro, Pequeña y Mediana Empresa) through the National Business Development System (Sistema Nacional de Fomento Empresarial), with national technical units responsible for assisting, supervising, and supporting its implementation. A committee would assess the technical, legal, economic, and financial viability of the plans and set the nonrepayable amount for those it considers viable. It would include representatives of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry (Ministerio de Comercio e Industria), the Ministry of Economy and Finance (Ministerio de Economía y Finanzas), the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise Authority, the Directorate General of Revenue, the National Bank of Panama (Banco Nacional de Panamá), the Savings Bank (Caja de Ahorros), the National Union of Small and Medium Enterprises (Unión Nacional de Pequeñas y Medianas Empresas), the National Entrepreneurship Council of the Republic of Panama (Consejo Nacional de Emprendimiento de la República de Panamá), and the Federation of Chambers of Commerce of the Republic of Panama (Federación de Cámaras de Comercio de la República de Panamá).

The program would award up to 5,000 balboas to microenterprises and up to 10,000 balboas to small enterprises. To compete for funding, applicants would need to be enrolled in the Authority’s business registry, have completed at least 40 hours of approved training, have the owner and employees enrolled in the Social Security Fund (Caja de Seguro Social), and meet the operating and tax filing requirements. Certain beneficiaries would have to participate in training, continuing education, monitoring, and support activities for at least 2 years.

The bill proposes income tax exemptions and reduced payments for accumulation economic units, formalized microenterprises and entrepreneurs, small enterprises organized as corporations, and registered medium enterprises. For the latter, it requires 50% of their suppliers to belong to the specified registered business categories; the Authority would regulate this matter by resolution. The benefits are linked to Law 189 of December 17, 2020, of the Fiscal Code.

The National Bank of Panama would hold a trust funded by annual deposits from the National Treasury (Tesoro Nacional). The Executive Branch would include an annual appropriation of at least 3 million balboas in the General State Budget. The funds would be managed through the Authority’s accounts, with disbursements subject to regulatory procedures and the Manual of Administrative and Fiscal Procedures for Managing the Special Fund (Manual de Procedimientos Administrativos y Fiscales para el Manejo del Fondo Especial); the Office of the Comptroller General of the Republic (Contraloría General de la República) would audit the appropriations and transfers. The Executive Branch would issue regulations under the law within 3 months of its promulgation, and the law would take effect on January 1, 2025. The bill concerns the named public entities as well as entrepreneurs, economic units, enterprises, workers, suppliers, and business organizations.