Samoa

Starting a Business in

Samoa

Listed below is a detailed summary of the bureaucratic and legal hurdles an entrepreneur must overcome in order to incorporate and register a new firm, along with their associated time and set-up costs.  It examines the procedures, time and cost involved in launching a commercial or industrial firm with up to 50 employees and start-up capital of 10 times the economy's per-capita gross national income (GNI).

The information appearing on this page was collected as part of the Doing Business project, which measures and compares regulations relevant to the life cycle of a small- to medium-sized domestic business in 183 economies. The most recent round of data collection for the project was completed in June 2011.

  • Standardized Company

  • Legal Form: Limited Liability Company
  • City: Apia

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No. Procedure Time to Complete Associated Costs
1 Register the company with the Commercial Registry; obtain a certificate of incorporation

Under the new Companies Act, which came into force July 2008, the applicant submits Form 1 (application for incorporation) and Form 2 (consent of director and directors). For an application to register a company under Section 6 of the Act, the fee is WST 250.
1 day WST 250 flat registration fee
2 Apply for a business license, VAGST and PAYE with the Ministry of Revenue, Inland Revenue Services

The following documents must be provided:
1. Application Letter stating
- the type of business activity
-Address to the Chief Executive Officer (Ministry for Revenue)
- Request for Business License
- Source of Fund
- Amount of Fund (Capital)
- Location
2. Provide (copy) of passport of all shareholders
3. Submit documented name(s) of shareholder(s) with respective number of shares, name(s) of director(s), and name(s) of secretary(s) for the company.
4. Certificate of Incorporation (Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Labour)
5. Complete and sign the IR24 Form (fill in by Business License Officer)
6. Site map (location)
7. Fee (SAT500.00 per activity) if approved by CEO

There are separate PAYE and VAGST (value-added-goods-and-services tax) registration forms for the taxpayer to complete and sign. The applicant or taxpayer is required to be registered for VAGST purposes if he/she knows the business can earn an annual gross sale greater than or equal to WST 78,000.
Registration for PAYE is required if the company will have employees.

Forms to be submitted are:
1. Application for VAGST Registration Form (Section 47 VAGST Act 1993/94);
2. Application for PAYE Registration Form.

 4 days WST 500 per license (1 per activity)
3 Register with the National Provident Fund (superannuation)

The company must contribute 10% of employees' gross salaries to the National Provident Fund.The company can recover 5% of the contribution from the employee's wage provided he deducts it in a timely manner. The company cannot recover contributions that are more than six months old.
1-2 days no charge
4 Register with the Accident Compensation Board

The company and employees each must contribute 1% of employees’ gross salaries to the fund.
1-2 days no charge
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