The small state of Samoa is located in the central Pacific Ocean of the Southern Hemisphere. It covers two large and several small islands. It has full legal independence based on English common and constitutional law.
Offshore activities are regulated by the International Business Companies Act, 1997. The economy is typical for the region: fishing and processing of fish, agriculture and tourism. The country’s government is intensively developing the financial zone.
Investors are attracted by the affordable company registration and acceptable annual tax payments.
Eternity Law International specialists have extensive positive experience in registering offshore companies in the international legal field in compliance with all requirements and norms of the law.
Types of Samoa companies
Non-residents can use the most advantageous form in the form of an international company to register their business on the territory of the islands.
Any type of entrepreneurial activity that is not prohibited by law is allowed. It is not allowed to conduct joint activities of the organization with citizens of the state. Resident companies do not have the right to administer foreign firms.
Benefits of doing business in Samoa
The state provides a wide list of favorable conditions for non-residents of the country, such as:
- complete tax exemption under certain restrictions;
- the company has the right to own real estate within the country;
- to carry out commercial transactions with banks or insurance companies without obtaining additional licenses;
- there is no obligation to maintain accounting records and submit annual reports on the company’s financial activities;
- audit exemption;
- exemption from payment of stamp duty;
- all income received outside the state is tax-free;
- complete confidentiality about the beneficiary;
- there is no state currency control.
Investors will be able to receive a tax break after observing some following rules:
- if they acquires a license for insurance and banking activities;
- if they sell goods and provide services only to non-residents of the country;
- if they do not buy real estate in the state, but only rent it.
According to the current legislation of Samoa, an offshore company must be registered on its territory without fail with an office.
Mandatory points
The islands are blacklisted by the FATF and the OECD, which creates favorable conditions for activities with good income, which is conducted outside the state. The zero tax rate works according to this scheme. To register a company, the following registration steps must be followed.
- The name must be unique according to the business register. It can be indicated in any language with obligatory translation into international languages (English or Spanish). An integral part of the name must be one of the particles in the form of an abbreviation: Pty, BV, NV, LLC, PLC, A.G, Bhd, S.A.R.L, S.A, Corp, Inc, Ltd or their full decoding.
- Constituent documents are articles of association or memorandum of the company.
- The declared registered capital is $ 100,000, with exemption from mandatory payment and with no maximum or minimum limits.
- A director or founder can be either a legal entity or an individual.
- It is prohibited to issue bearer shares without a declared par value.
- The documentation can be stored in any convenient place.
- The meeting of the founders can be held anywhere in the world.
- The term of company registration is from 48 hours to two weeks.
- Third parties will be able to access information only after going through all the instances of the local court and having obtained a court permission for this.
The state has not signed a double taxation agreement with anyone. The firm’s assets are protected from any tax debts that can be collected by court order and required to close the company. For all Samoan vessels, the tax is not a debt obligation.
Since in the state a priori there is no legal concept of “taxes”, any offshore company is thoroughly protected from inspections by the fiscal authorities of other countries. There is a procedure for the transfer of offshore assets to another person in the event of “special circumstances”. There is no prohibition to purchase a ready-made company with an open office in the state.
Eternity Law International provides each client with qualified assistance in organizing a business in an offshore zone of any international jurisdiction. Our specialists will efficiently perform the company registration in Samoa.
Our official site provides complete information on the scope of opportunities and services. It is very easy and quick to contact the Eternity Law International consultants. All our coordinates are indicated in the “Contacts” section. There is a feedback and an online chat for communication with the manager.