‘There Will be No Tax on the Sun or the Air,’ said Mulino, Ruling Out Taxing Solar Energy

The President of the Republic said that they want to encourage investments in alternative energies such as solar and wind power, so no tax will be imposed on the sun or other energy sources.  The controversial proposal to apply a tax to solar energy generators and marketers, better known as the sun tax, was rejected by the President of the Republic, José Raúl Mulino, stating that no tax can be applied to these sectors.  “There will be no tax on the sun or the air, that is clear,” the president said during the weekly discussion.  He pointed out that this energy-generating industry cannot be affected by increasing costs for consumers, when there are plans to attract more investment in this activity in the country. 

He said they want new companies to see Panama as a good place to establish investments and companies that generate solar and wind energy.  “I firmly believe in the possibility of competition between solar companies and others so that prices resulting from this competition can fall further,” he added.  The proposal for a tax on the sun arose from a proposal made by the National Authority for Public Services (ASEP), in which regulatory changes would be introduced for residential and commercial users who generate energy with solar panels, which could be interpreted as a “tax on the sun”.  The measure was rejected by the Panamanian Chamber of Solar Energy and by energy marketers and distributors.  In 2019, the then ASEP administration also attempted to implement this measure and it was discarded.