- No sign yet
Details and sources
- Promised
- FAST launched its manifesto at Apita o Pisaga Hall, Salelologa, Savaiʻi, on Saturday 12 July 2025 16. That was seven weeks before the election on 29 August 2025 9. On 12 July 2025, Samoa Global News reported that higher earners now taxed at 27% would see their PAYE rate drop to 23% 1. Samoa Global News also reported that FAST would cut company tax from 27% to 23% 2. The same Samoa Global News report listed a separate promise: to raise the PAYE tax-free line from SAT$15,000 to SAT$20,000 3. The website conven.org carries almost the same text, and we do not know which outlet published first 14. On 14 July 2025, Talamua reported only one cut from 27% to 23%, of the 'employers income tax' 5. On 28 August 2025, the Samoa Observer listed it as a cut to 'business tax' 7. So the reports differ on whether the 23% rate is for wages, for companies, or both 157. We could not find the manifesto document itself to check. None of these reports gave a cost or a start date 157. The rates in force today date from 1 January 2018 1112. Sources disagree on the top rate before that. The Ministry of Revenue says the top rate fell from 29% to 27% 11. On 4 January 2018, the Samoa Observer reported that Revenue Minister Tiʻalavea Tionisio Hunt said that, before the change, people earning over SAT$20,000 already paid 27% 14.
- What happened
- Laʻaulialemalietoa Leuatea Schmidt was sworn in as Prime Minister on 16 September 2025 10. His government has not changed the rate 11. The 2025/26 Budget Address on 6 October 2025 kept existing income tax rates 18. Finance Minister Mulipola Anarosa Ale-Molioʻo presented the 2026/27 Budget Address on 26 May 2026, and it kept the rates again 1931. The reason given in that address is that keeping the rates means 'additional pressure is not placed on households and businesses' 19. A rate cut would lower expected PAYE revenue. Instead, the 2026/27 Approved Estimates expect PAYE of SAT$108,564,991, up from SAT$92,749,082 in 2025/26 25. The 2026/27 Fiscal Strategy keeps income tax paid by individuals at SAT$108.6 million a year through to 2029/30 26. The government's development plan for 2026/27 to 2030/31 mentions 'tax relief measures' but gives no rate or amount 27. What these measures are is unconfirmed. The bills and acts shown on Parliament's website for 2025 and 2026 include no income tax bill 22. The only tax laws shown for those years remove tax exemptions 2234. The page links to a longer 2025 folder that we could not open, so we cannot rule out a bill listed only there. A government press release published by Talamua on 3 July 2026 lists the new minimum wage and benefits, but no tax change 23. On 15 September 2026, the Samoa Observer wrote that the Prime Minister took office 'promising' tax cuts, among other pledges 28. The rest of that Samoa Observer article is behind a paywall, so we could not read how it rated this promise. As of 22 October 2026, the Ministry of Revenue still lists 27% as the top rate and SAT$15,000 as the tax-free line 11. We found no statement by the Prime Minister or a minister on when the cut might come.
- Impact on families
- No family has gained or lost, because the rate has not changed 11. If it came in, the cut would only touch income above SAT$25,000 a year 13. In 2022, almost 80% of paid employees (22,780 people) earned less than SAT$2,000 a month 24. That is under SAT$24,000 a year, below the SAT$25,000 line, so they would get nothing from the cut 1324. The minimum wage is SAT$5.24 an hour from 1 July 2026 23. A full-time worker on the minimum wage earns about SAT$10,900 a year (40 hours a week, 52 weeks) 23. That is below the SAT$15,000 tax-free line, so they pay no income tax now and would gain nothing 1323. Worked out from the rate table, a person on SAT$40,000 a year would pay SAT$600 less a year, and a person on SAT$100,000 would pay SAT$3,000 less 13.
- Cost
- No official cost has been published 1819. We found no count of people who pay the 27% rate. The cut gives up 4 sene in tax on every tala of income above SAT$25,000 13. The total for a year is unknown. For scale, all PAYE is expected to bring in SAT$108,564,991 in 2026/27, and the cut would take away part of this 25. The 2026/27 budget plans a cash deficit of SAT$215.9 million, 3.1% of GDP 21. Samoa Bureau of Statistics figures show tax revenue of SAT$830.9 million in 2025/26, 0.7% lower than the year before 29. The 2026/27 Budget Address expects tax revenue to rise by 17%, helped in part by a 3% rise in tobacco excise 20. On 13 July 2025, a Samoa Observer editorial said FAST had not set out how it would pay for its manifesto 30. On 14 July 2025, Talamua reported that the manifesto named new sources of revenue, including unclaimed carbon credits and a stock exchange 3233. That report did not link these to the tax cut 3233.
- Verdict for families
- Costs aiga
- Can it be done?
- A stretch
- Long term
- Bad long term
- Who deserves the credit
-
Started by an earlier government
The 27% rate on income over SAT$25,000 and the SAT$15,000 tax-free line come from the Income Tax Amendment Act 2017, in force from 1 January 2018 1113. Revenue Minister Tiʻalavea Tionisio Hunt, of the HRPP government of Tuilaʻepa Saʻilele Malielegaoi, confirmed the change to the Samoa Observer on 4 January 2018 151617. This government has not acted on this promise: both of its budgets kept income tax rates as they were 1819.
- Who gains
- Only people with income above SAT$25,000 a year would gain: 4 sene less tax on each tala above that line, for example SAT$600 a year on SAT$40,000 and SAT$3,000 on SAT$100,000 13.
- Who pays
- Future budgets and public services would lose part of PAYE revenue, expected at SAT$108.6 million in 2026/27, while a SAT$215.9 million deficit is planned, and minimum-wage workers on SAT$5.24 an hour would gain nothing 212325.
- Assessment
- The cut would help only income above SAT$25,000 a year 13. The gain grows with pay, and most workers get nothing, including everyone on the minimum wage 132324. It is marked 'costs' because it cuts tax at the top while tax revenue fell in 2025/26 and the 2026/27 budget plans a SAT$215.9 million deficit 2129. So the cut would have to be paid for by borrowing, other taxes or services going without. It is a 'stretch' because no cost was ever published and the government's own forecasts keep individual income tax flat to 2029/30 15726. It is 'stalled', not 'broken', because no report gave a deadline and both budgets simply kept the rates 1571819. HRPP promised a smaller cut, from 27% to 25%, which would also reach only income in the top band 813.
Sources (34)
- FAST Manifesto Promises Tax Cuts and Support to Industry
- FAST Manifesto Promises Tax Cuts and Support to Industry
- FAST Manifesto Promises Tax Cuts and Support to Industry
- FAST Manifesto Promises Tax Cuts and Support to Industry
- FAST Party Manifesto Centres on the Family Unit
- FAST Party Manifesto Centres on the Family Unit
- What the three major parties are promising Samoa
- What the three major parties are promising Samoa
- Samoa snap general election: Electoral Commissioner confirms results
- Laaulialemalietoa Schmidt sworn in as Samoa’s 8th Prime Minister, third leader from Savai’i
- Rates – Ministry of Revenue
- Notice to Employers: Fortnightly and Annual Income Tax Rates Effective as of 1st January 2018 (IR58)
- Income Tax Amendment Act 2017 (No. 11)
- Minister clears air on taxes
- Minister clears air on taxes
- FAST:24 HRPP:24 Independent:1
- FAST:24 HRPP:24 Independent:1
- Budget Address 2025/2026
- Budget Address 2026/2027
- Budget Address 2026/2027
- Budget Address 2026/2027
- Bills, Acts and Regulations – Parliament of Samoa
- Government Delivers on Key Social Commitments from 1 July 2026
- 2022 Samoa Labour Force and Child Labour Survey
- Approved Estimates of Receipts and Payments of the Government of Samoa for the Financial Year Ending 30th June 2027
- Fiscal Strategy Statement FY2026/27
- Pathway for the Development of Samoa FY2026/27 – FY2030/31
- FAST Government one year on: What has been delivered and what remains
- Government Finance Statistics June 2026 Quarter
- More promises, FAST and its manifesto
- Public to have say on $1.5 billion budget
- FAST Party Manifesto Centres on the Family Unit
- FAST Party Manifesto Centres on the Family Unit
- Bills, Acts and Regulations – Parliament of Samoa
Is it funded?
No budget line
We searched the 2025/26 and 2026/27 Approved Estimates. We found no line that funds or carries out this cut, and nothing has been paid out 35. A tax cut would show up as lower revenue, not as spending. Instead, the 2026/27 Estimates expect PAYE of SAT$108,564,991, up from SAT$92,749,082 in 2025/26 35. The only other income tax line is the routine SAT$10,000,000 a year for income tax refunds, the same in both years 4. The 2025/26 Budget Address, on 6 October 2025, kept existing income tax rates 1. The 2026/27 Budget Address, on 26 May 2026, kept the current rates 2. Parliament passed the 2026/27 budget close to midnight on 25 June 2026 7. The 2026/27 Fiscal Strategy keeps income tax paid by individuals at SAT$108.6 million a year through to 2029/30 6.
Sources (7)
- Budget Address 2025/2026
- Budget Address 2026/2027
- Approved Estimates of Receipts and Payments of the Government of Samoa for the Financial Year Ending 30th June 2027
- Approved Estimates of Receipts and Payments of the Government of Samoa for the Financial Year Ending 30th June 2027
- Approved Estimates of Receipts and Payments of the Government of Samoa for the Financial Year Ending 30th June 2026
- Fiscal Strategy Statement FY2026/27
- Parliament Endorse $1.5 Billion Budget for 2026/2027
What research says
Research mostly warns against it
The World Bank's 2023 review of Pacific government finances covers Samoa directly. The World Bank review notes that Samoa has only two income tax rate bands above a tax-free line 1. The review also says many Pacific countries have a lower top rate than similar countries elsewhere 2. The review says a higher top rate would make income tax more progressive and raise revenue 2. A February 2025 Devpolicy study of Papua New Guinea's income tax found that cutting the top rate there was a regressive change 3. The Devpolicy study is about Papua New Guinea, not Samoa 3. We found no study that measured a top-rate cut in Samoa. These are reviews and descriptive studies, not trials 13.
Sources (3)
- Raising Pasifika: Strengthening Government Finances to Enhance Human Capital in the Pacific
- Raising Pasifika: Strengthening Government Finances to Enhance Human Capital in the Pacific
- Income tax in Papua New Guinea: changes over time
Cost and reach
No official cost has been published, and we found no count of people who pay the 27% rate, so both fields are left blank. The cut is worth 4 sene for each tala of income above SAT$25,000, so only people earning above that line would gain 1. In 2022, almost 80% of paid employees (22,780 people) earned under SAT$2,000 a month, which is under SAT$24,000 a year 2. So in 2022, at most about one in five paid employees could have gained 2. The 2026/27 Budget Address puts formal employment at 28,616 people in December 2025 3. That count comes from a different source than the 2022 survey, so we do not use it to count who would gain 23.
Sources (3)
- Income Tax Amendment Act 2017 (No. 11)
- 2022 Samoa Labour Force and Child Labour Survey
- Budget Address 2026/2027
Helps: High earners
Paid for by: Future budgets and debt · Low-income families · Taxpayers
All 2025 promises in Cost of living and tax →
Folafolaga · https://folafolaga.pages.dev/promises/fast-cost-paye-top-rate-23/ · Printed from the version last checked 23 October 2026. Every claim's source is listed on that page.