{"id":515475,"date":"2026-07-14T19:30:01","date_gmt":"2026-07-14T23:30:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.net\/en\/uncategorized\/delinquency-increases-with-the-css-employers-in-panama-owe-more-than-301-million\/"},"modified":"2026-07-14T19:30:01","modified_gmt":"2026-07-14T23:30:01","slug":"delinquency-increases-with-the-css-employers-in-panama-owe-more-than-301-million","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/international\/delinquency-increases-with-the-css-employers-in-panama-owe-more-than-301-million\/","title":{"rendered":"Delinquency increases with the CSS: employers in Panama owe more than $301 million"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The delinquency<\/strong> of employers<\/strong> with the Social Security Fund<\/strong> (CSS) grew<\/strong> again during the first semester of 2026. At the close<\/strong> of June, 29,148<\/strong> employers<\/strong> maintained<\/strong> pending $301.9 million in contributions<\/strong>, including employer-employee contributions and other associated<\/strong> concepts<\/strong>, a debt that directly<\/strong> affects<\/strong> the financing of health, maternity, disability, old age, and death benefits<\/strong> for workers<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/a>In December 2025, the institution<\/strong> recorded 28,964 delinquent employers and a debt of $279.47 million.<\/strong> In six<\/strong> months, 184<\/strong> new<\/strong> employers<\/strong> were added, an increase of 0.64%, while<\/strong> the outstanding amount grew<\/strong> by $22.42 million, equivalent to 8.02%.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The debt<\/strong> advanced<\/strong> much faster than the number<\/strong> of companies included in the list, which reflects<\/strong> an increase in the average<\/strong> balance<\/strong> accumulated by each employer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/a>The province<\/strong> of Panama concentrates<\/strong> the majority of the problem<\/strong>, with 18,537<\/strong> employers<\/strong> and obligations of $196.71 million<\/strong>, around<\/strong> 65% of the national balance. It is followed<\/strong> by Chiriqu\u00ed<\/strong>, with 3,080 employers<\/strong> and $30.24 million; Col\u00f3n, with 1,590 and $24.27 million;<\/strong> and Panam\u00e1<\/strong> Oeste<\/strong>, where 2,885 employers owe<\/strong> $18.61 million.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The province of Panama concentrates the majority of employer delinquency, with almost two-thirds of the outstanding balance reported by the CSS.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Los Santos<\/strong> records<\/strong> $9.07 million; Cocl\u00e9, $8.19 million; Herrera, $5.65 million; <\/strong>Veraguas, $4.70 million; Bocas del Toro, $4.13 million; and Dari\u00e9n, $285,661. Although some<\/strong> provinces<\/strong> have fewer employers<\/strong>, the amounts may<\/strong> be<\/strong> influenced by the age<\/strong> of the obligations, surcharges<\/strong>, interest, and debts<\/strong> of public institutions.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The employer-employee contribution<\/strong> is<\/strong> composed of the money deducted<\/strong> monthly<\/strong> from the worker and the additional<\/strong> contribution that corresponds to the employer. The employer<\/strong> acts<\/strong> as a withholding agent: they deduct the part<\/strong> of the wage earner, add their contribution<\/strong>, and must transfer both to the CSS within the established<\/strong> deadline<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not doing so means<\/strong> that it retains resources<\/strong> that were already deducted from the worker’s income.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Law 462 currently establishes<\/strong> a contribution<\/strong> equivalent<\/strong> to 9.75% of the salary for employees<\/strong> and 13.25% for employers<\/strong>, the latter in effect<\/strong> until February 2027.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We recommend reading:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The employer<\/strong> contribution<\/strong> will rise to 14.25% from March<\/strong> 2027 and to 15.25% starting<\/strong> in March 2029. On the items<\/strong> of the thirteenth month, special<\/strong> contributions<\/strong> of 7.25% for the worker and 10.75% for the employer<\/strong> apply.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The employer-employee contribution finances benefits such as medical care, maternity, disability, retirement, and survivor pensions, in addition to other programs administered by the CSS. Courtesy<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These resources<\/strong> are essential<\/strong> because they fund<\/strong> the coverage and benefits<\/strong> recognized<\/strong> by social security. When an employer<\/strong> does not correctly<\/strong> report wages or fails to transfer<\/strong> the contributions, it can<\/strong> affect<\/strong> the accreditation of the contributions<\/strong> necessary<\/strong> for the worker to access<\/strong> subsidies, medical<\/strong> care<\/strong>, and, subsequently, a pension.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The review<\/strong> of the status of the files<\/strong> shows<\/strong> that the majority of the cases<\/strong> continue<\/strong> in the administrative stage. A total<\/strong> of 21,025 employers do not maintain a payment agreement<\/strong> and accumulate $94.34 million.<\/strong> Another 788 employers<\/strong> reached<\/strong> administrative<\/strong> agreements and maintain obligations of $9.38 million.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the coercive jurisdiction<\/strong> collection stage<\/strong>, there are 6,955 employers<\/strong> without a payment arrangement, equivalent to 23.9% of the total, but they account for $170.64 million<\/strong>, more than half of the total debt.<\/strong> Another 147 employers<\/strong> have<\/strong> payment agreements within<\/strong> that instance and owe $1.55 million.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are also 197<\/strong> government<\/strong> institutions<\/strong> with commitments totaling $16.33 million; another 16 public<\/strong> entities<\/strong> maintain administrative<\/strong> agreements for $915,098; and 20 government<\/strong> institutions<\/strong> were referred to coercive<\/strong> jurisdiction<\/strong>, with obligations totaling $8.72 million.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thousands of employers remain in administrative collection and coercive jurisdiction processes for failing to transfer contributions to the CSS.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The administrative channel<\/strong> corresponds to the ordinary management<\/strong> carried out by the CSS to recover<\/strong> obligations within the legal deadlines<\/strong>, without the need to initiate<\/strong> a judicial procedure. The coercive jurisdiction<\/strong> allows the institution<\/strong> to execute<\/strong> collection, including fines<\/strong>, surcharges, and interest, without resorting<\/strong> to ordinary courts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Separately<\/strong>, the CSS maintains<\/strong> a list of employers sent to uncollectible status,<\/strong> either because<\/strong> they were referred from the enforcement<\/strong> courts<\/strong> or because they were processed<\/strong> by the Arrears<\/strong> Analysis<\/strong> and Clearing Unit.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The document<\/strong> updated<\/strong> as of June contains 18,083 records<\/strong>, with obligations totaling<\/strong> approximately<\/strong> $95.1 million. Of that total, 7,934 cases referred<\/strong> from enforcement<\/strong> courts represent<\/strong> $58.1 million, while 10,149 records<\/strong> processed<\/strong> by the specialized<\/strong> unit accumulate<\/strong> $36.96 million.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The uncollectible status<\/strong> does not automatically equate to the elimination of the debt<\/strong>, but it indicates that there are serious<\/strong> difficulties<\/strong> in recovering it, including<\/strong> defunct<\/strong> companies, individuals without traceable<\/strong> assets<\/strong>, old closures, or files<\/strong> whose execution did not produce<\/strong> results<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That balance represents almost a third of the delinquency<\/strong> reported<\/strong> as of June and exposes<\/strong> the dimension of resources<\/strong> that will hardly return to the social security system.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The growth<\/strong> of debt in just six<\/strong> months leaves an uncomfortable<\/strong> signal<\/strong>: the CSS not only faces the challenge of recovering historical obligations<\/strong>, but also<\/strong> of preventing new balances<\/strong> from continuing<\/strong> to accumulate. In an institution<\/strong> pressured<\/strong> by health and pension<\/strong> costs, every withheld<\/strong> and untransferred installment ends<\/strong> up<\/strong> becoming<\/strong> money that is missing where it is needed most.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The delinquency of employers with the Social Security Fund (CSS) grew again during the first semester of 2026. At the close of June, 29,148 employers maintained pending $301.9 million in contributions, including employer-employee contributions and other associated concepts, a debt that directly affects the financing of health, maternity, disability, old age, and death benefits for […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":133556,"featured_media":515476,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_members_access_role":[],"_members_access_error":""},"categories":[95],"tags":[14665],"class_list":["post-515475","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-international","tag-panama"],"acf":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/phj1q1-2a67","jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/07\/5UL4NBGAPFARHEKSMGESSMX2GY.avif","dum_api":{"author_name":"Yerandi Santana","author_image":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/cropped-WhatsApp-Image-2026-02-13-at-5.35.07-PM-96x96.jpeg","categories_name":["International"],"featured_media_url":"https:\/\/cdn.deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/07\/5UL4NBGAPFARHEKSMGESSMX2GY.avif"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/515475","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/133556"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=515475"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/515475\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/515476"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=515475"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=515475"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=515475"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}