Samoa VAT rate
Samoa's consumption tax is NOT called VAT. It is the Value Added Goods and Services Tax (VAGST), a New-Zealand-style GST imposed by the Value Added Goods and Services Tax Act 2015 (which replaced the VAGST Act 1992/1993) and administered by the Ministry for Revenue. Section 8(3) sets the rate. Applies to taxable supplies made in Samoa by a registered person and to imported goods and certain imported services.
| Current value | 15 percent |
|---|---|
| In force from | 2016-01-01 |
| Official source | Value Added Goods and Services Tax Act 2015 (Samoa), s.8(3): 'The rate of GST is: (a) for a taxable supply that is a zero-rated supply, zero percent; or (b) in any other case, 15%' — official consolidated text published by the Ministry for Revenue |
| Last verified | 2026-07-23 |
| Verification | primary — No verification limitation recorded — read from the official source cited. |
| Provenance | source fingerprint |
What this value means
CORRECTION TO THE LAUNCHING BRIEF: the brief flagged that 'a rate cut has been discussed in recent budgets'. No cut has been enacted, and none was proposed in the FY2026/2027 Budget. The Budget Address for 2026/2027 ('AIGA — Accelerating Inclusive Growth and Access', delivered by Minister of Finance Mulipola Anarosa Ale-Molio'o, total expenditure $1,500,580,288 tala, cash deficit ~$215.9m or 3.1% of GDP) states the Government is MAINTAINING the current VAGST and income tax rates so as not to add pressure on households and businesses. The only announced tax change is a 3% rise in tobacco excise from 1 Jan 2027, which does not touch VAGST. Serve 15%. Note the naming trap: the 2015 Act's operative sections use the abbreviation 'GST' throughout even though the Act, the returns and the Ministry for Revenue all brand the tax 'VAGST' — same tax, one rate. Statutory structure: 15% standard; ZERO-rated supplies include exports and going-concern transfers (s.9); EXEMPT supplies include financial services and residential accommodation — exempt is not the same as zero-rated. Separate specific VAGST amounts apply to petroleum products alongside excise (Ministry for Revenue rates table, effective 1 Apr 2020: motor spirit 0.1688, distillate 0.1862, jet fuel 0.856 per litre). The VAGST rate has been 15% since the 2015 Act commenced; the predecessor VAGST Act also charged 15% from 2010 (raised from 12.5%), so 15% has in substance been the rate for over 15 years. The Act text is hosted on revenue.gov.ws; the Attorney General's office (ag.gov.ws) hosts consolidations of other tax Acts. Both fetch cleanly as text PDFs.
Get it programmatically
curl https://ausref.dev/v1/ws/vat
# $0.001 per call — x402 on Base (USDC). No key, no signup.
# History: curl https://ausref.dev/v1/ws/vat/history?from=2020-01-01
# Provenance: curl https://ausref.dev/provenance/ws/vatOther Samoa series: policy interest rate · minimum wage · public holidays · inflation rate (CPI) · corporate tax rate · income tax rates