American Samoa's genuinely distinct Tax System (frozen at the US Internal Revenue Code as of 31 December 2000, NOT live-mirrored like Guam/USVI/CNMI) is already described in detail elsewhere on this page.
American Samoa's tax year and filing mechanics follow the frozen year-2000 US federal framework described elsewhere on this page, administered by the American Samoa Government Tax Office rather than the IRS.
American Samoa's corporate income tax is progressive, graduated from 15% (on amounts up to USD 50,000) up through a top rate of 35%, mirroring the year-2000 US federal corporate bracket structure that existed before the 2018 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act flattened the mainland US rate to 21%. Taxable income is computed using year-2000 IRC rules for allowable business deductions. A 1% alternative minimum business tax on gross annual revenue applies where it exceeds the regular graduated corporate tax liability. The American Samoa Government (ASG) Tax Office may also grant locally-enacted exemptions and deductions that deviate from the frozen federal text.
"American Samoa has its own separate and independent income tax system that is modeled on the U.S. income tax laws in the Internal Revenue Code as in effect on December 31, 2000." This means American Samoa's personal income tax uses year-2000 US federal tax tables and a USD 2,800 personal exemption amount - a materially different (generally higher top-rate) bracket structure than the current mainland US system, since the pre-2001 top federal rate was 39.6% versus the current 37%. Tax is payable to the American Samoa Government, not the US federal government, for bona fide residents. Foreign individuals may be subject to a 30% withholding tax on American Samoa-source income.
American Samoa has no VAT and no general retail sales tax; two sources disagree on whether a separate 4% General Excise Tax on gross receipts also exists (one legal-analysis source describes no general sales or gross receipts tax at all, another describes a 4% General Excise Tax on gross receipts) - confirm current status directly with the American Samoa Government Tax Office. Business activity is otherwise subject to the graduated corporate/business tax structure described above (including the 1% alternative minimum business tax on gross revenue), rather than a separate point-of-sale consumption tax layer.
American Samoa follows the same federal "bona fide resident" test used across US territories generally: broadly, presence for at least 183 days in the tax year, no closer connection to the US or a foreign country, and a tax home in American Samoa for the full year, per IRC Section 937 and its implementing regulations (as those regulations stood at the relevant reference point, given American Samoa's non-mirror-code status). Bona fide residents file with the American Samoa Government Tax Office rather than the IRS in most cases; a bona fide resident generally cannot claim the Earned Income Credit on a US Form 1040.
A non-American-Samoa entity has a permanent establishment under the frozen year-2000 US Internal Revenue Code framework already described elsewhere on this page, distinct from the current mainland US PE rules given American Samoa's non-mirror-code status.
Because American Samoa's tax code incorporates the US Internal Revenue Code as it stood on 31 December 2000, it incorporates the CFC (Subpart F) regime as it existed at that time - a real, substantive attribution mechanism, though based on year-2000 Subpart F mechanics rather than the current mainland US regime (which has since been substantially modified by GILTI/NCTI under the 2017 and subsequent reforms). This is a genuinely technical point: American Samoa's CFC exposure for a resident-controlled foreign corporation should be analyzed under the frozen 2000-era Subpart F rules specifically, not assumed identical to current mainland US CFC law.
American Samoa's frozen 2000 IRC incorporation includes the interest-deductibility rules as they stood at that time (predating the current IRC Section 163(j) 30%-of-adjusted-taxable-income cap, which was substantially reformed in 2017-2018) - confirm the specific year-2000-era interest limitation provisions directly with the ASG Tax Office or a US territorial tax specialist, since this is a materially different (generally less restrictive) regime than the one currently applicable on the US mainland or in the mirror-code territories.
As already described elsewhere on this page, American Samoa's CFC exposure follows year-2000-era Subpart F mechanics specifically (predating GILTI/NCTI), given its frozen, non-mirror-code status - a genuinely distinct position from Guam/USVI/CNMI.
No foreign bank account or foreign financial asset reporting regime exists requiring residents to separately disclose foreign accounts; foreign income is reported through the standard annual tax return.
American Samoa's frozen year-2000 IRC incorporation includes whatever dividends-received deduction framework existed in US federal law at that time, distinct from the current mainland US Section 245A regime given American Samoa's non-mirror-code status - confirm the specific year-2000-era provision directly given this genuinely unusual technical position.
American Samoa's frozen year-2000 IRC incorporation includes whatever foreign tax credit provisions existed in US federal law at that time - a genuinely distinct technical position from the current mainland US Section 901 regime given American Samoa's non-mirror-code status (see CFC section above for the parallel point on Subpart F).
American Samoa does not independently negotiate its own tax treaties as a US territory rather than a sovereign state. Given its non-mirror-code, frozen-2000 status, American Samoa's treaty position is a genuinely distinct technical question from the mirror-code territories (Guam, USVI, CNMI) - confirm treaty applicability directly with a US international tax adviser experienced in American Samoa's specific tax regime before relying on any treaty position.