SamoaCompany Incorporation and Registration, Expert-Led

The Basic package takes the company from name search to first anniversary. It covers structure advice, due diligence, the memorandum and articles, filing, the government fee, the statutory registers, digital copies of everything, and a trustee company and registered office for year one. Premium adds the original Certificate of Incorporation, incumbency and good standing certificates, apostille and a seal. The Scope of Work section lists each item.

Yes. Every stage runs remotely, from the first conversation and the due diligence to signing and filing. Samoa law sends every filing through a trustee, so you never deal with the Registry in person. You post us no originals beforehand, and your certificate arrives by email first, with originals by courier if your package includes them.

Each document arrives with its signature points marked and a short note on how to sign it. You print, sign by hand, scan and send them back by email. If any page needs a witness or a notary, we flag it before you sign, so nothing has to be done twice and the filing date does not slip.

For each beneficial owner, director and shareholder we need four things: a certified copy of the passport, proof of address under three months old, evidence of where the funds come from, and a CV or LinkedIn link. Corporate shareholders send their certificate of incorporation, constitution and registers, and the people who own them are checked in the same way. Certification wording is in the KYC section, and every item is reviewed before the trustee files.

No. Samoa's anti-money laundering law requires due diligence on every connected person before the trustee can file anything, and there are no exceptions. We keep it short instead: one checklist, guidance on the format each document needs, and a review of every item as it arrives. One to three days is usual.

Use the form below or email us with what the business will do and who will own and run it. An advisor replies with the recommended structure, the exact documents each person must send, and the full fee in writing. Once you accept, we invoice, and due diligence starts the day the invoice is paid. Filing follows as soon as the checks clear.

Not on income earned outside Samoa, for now. It pays no Samoan income tax, capital gains tax or withholding tax on foreign income. The Miscellaneous (Removal of Tax Exemption for International Companies) Amendment Act 2026 ends that blanket exemption from 1 January 2028, and the rules after that date are still being settled. We will write to clients before it takes effect. Owners may owe tax where they live.

No. Samoa keeps the registers of directors and members at the registered office, closed to public inspection. The beneficial ownership record sits with the trustee under the Trustee Companies Act 2017. Samoan authorities can ask to see it, but it is never published.

You need one director and one shareholder, and one person can be both. Neither has to live in Samoa or hold any particular nationality, and either can be a corporate body. The law also requires a trustee company to provide the registered office and handle filings, which our packages include. Beyond that, each person passes due diligence and you choose an available name.

No minimum capital is prescribed, so you can start with a single share of par or no par value, in any currency. The government fee stays the same whatever capital you authorise, so there is no reason to keep the figure artificially low. Shares may be issued in more than one class if the structure needs it.

It can trade across borders, hold investments and other assets, own intellectual property and sit at the top of a group. It may not do business with residents of Samoa. Banking, insurance, trust business and similar regulated activities need a separate licence from the Samoa International Finance Authority, which we can discuss with you before incorporation.

Yes. The name must end in Limited, Corporation, Incorporated or an accepted short form (Ltd, Corp, Inc), and foreign equivalents such as S.A., GmbH, B.V., N.V. or Berhad are accepted. It cannot match or closely resemble a name already on the register. Words that suggest a bank, trust, insurer or government link need approval. We search the Registry before filing.

Yes. Directors and shareholders can live anywhere, and board meetings can be held by any means, including video. One caution: if it is run day to day from your home country, that country may treat it as tax resident. It is worth checking with a local tax adviser before you decide where decisions will be made.

No. You can form a company in Samoa without premises or staff there. The International Companies Act requires a trustee company to supply the registered office in Apia and act for you, and that is included for the first year. Samoa has no offshore-style economic substance regime, so there is no local headcount or spending test to meet.

No audit is required and no accounts are filed with the Registrar. Accounting records that explain the company's transactions must still be kept, made up for each financial year and retained for seven years. They can be held at the registered office or wherever the directors think fit, and failing to keep them can mean a fine of up to 100 penalty units.

It is the licensed local firm the International Companies Act requires you to appoint. Its office becomes your registered office, it keeps the statutory registers and the beneficial ownership record, and every filing with the Registrar goes through it. Owners cannot file directly. The first year of this service is part of every package.

No. The annual return under the International Companies Act was repealed in 1991, and Samoa does not ask for accounts to be filed either. Nothing about your directors, shareholders or finances goes onto a public file each year. The single dated obligation is the renewal fee by 30 November, which we prepare and settle as part of your annual engagement.

Samoa has no economic substance regime of the offshore kind, and today the exemption on foreign income comes without any substance test. That will change when the blanket exemption ends on 1 January 2028. The replacement rules may turn on where income is sourced, and they are still being written. We will review your structure against them and confirm the position with you before then.

If the renewal fee is unpaid on 30 November, the Registrar gives two months to show cause, then strikes the company off. Once struck off it cannot act, and restoring it costs extra. Not keeping accounting records is a separate offence with its own fine. We track the date on every file we administer so neither happens to you.

Send us one email. We draft the resolution, collect signatures and update the registers at the registered office, and most changes need no filing with the Registrar at all. A new name is different: it goes to the Registrar, who issues a certificate in that name. A memorandum change is lodged within 21 days. Most changes are finished the same week.

Yes. You can move to a different trustee, and the International Companies Act allows redomiciling out of Samoa to another country, or from abroad into Samoa. We prepare and handle both kinds of filing on request, and can advise on whether a move makes sense.