Register a company in Papua New Guinea

For the registration, yes. IPA's registry works online with a client account that needs a photo ID, and none of the official pages we checked asks you to appear in person. Paper forms can also go by mail or through an agent. Working in the company yourself is a separate track: a non-citizen needs a valid work permit, issued by the DLIR, before starting the job, and the Working Resident Entry Permit comes from the Immigration and Citizenship Authority.

Registration starts from $2,900. Official IPA fees and a legal address, if you need ours, are quoted separately. With an EMI or online bank account, from $4,800. For scale, IPA's Quick Start Guide lists K500 for registering the company and K2,000 for the Foreign Enterprise Certificate, both paid in kina.

The certificate a foreign enterprise needs from IPA before it may do business in PNG, under s.28 of the Investment Promotion Act 1992. IPA's pages draw the ownership line slightly differently - 50% or more in one place, more than 50% in others - but a company you own outright from abroad is covered either way. You incorporate first and lodge the application within 14 days. The fee is K2,000, with a K4,000 late lodging fee that may be waived. The file includes passports, CVs, a first-year budget and cash flow, bank statements or balance sheets, and the planned investment and jobs. The certificate can carry conditions, such as a start date, a prior State permit or licence, audited accounts filed with IPA or a stated sum to spend in PNG.

Those on the Reserved Activities List in the Investment Promotion Regulation 1992, currently 39 entries. Some are reserved for citizens: small-scale tree crops and farming, coastal and inland commercial fishing, security guards, real estate management, lodgings under 10 rooms, listed wholesale and retail trade. Others, such as travel agencies, tour operators, alluvial mining and coastal bulk transport, are reserved for national enterprises. No non-citizen ownership is allowed in a reserved activity, joint ventures included, so the Registrar of Foreign Investment must refuse the certificate. A review proposes a new list of 11 activities. Its consultation closed on 21 November 2025, but the new list applies only once regulations are made.

The Act requires one or more shares, each without a nominal or par value (s.39). We found no minimum capital in its provisions on shares: the shares issued on registration are simply the ones stated in the application. IPA's certificate file separately asks for the value of your initial capital investment and a first-year budget, so the figure still has to fit the business you describe.

The Act asks for at least one director, and Form A-1 records each director's residential address and nationality. Section 128 of the Act is headed "Number of directors and residence", so we confirm what it requires of your board before filing. The certificate application also names a local representative.

Corporate tax of 30% on worldwide income, under the Income Tax Act 2025 in force since 1 January 2026, and GST of 10% with exports zero-rated. Payments to non-residents carry withholding: 15% on dividends (final), 15% on interest and technical fees, 10% on royalties, 30% on royalties to an associate. Returns are due six months after year-end, or nine through a registered tax agent. Provisional tax is paid in three instalments (30 April, 31 July and 31 October for a December year-end). Salary tax is withheld and remitted by the 7th of the following month.

By IPA's Quick Start Guide, registering the company takes 24 hours to 3 weeks and the Foreign Enterprise Certificate 2 to 5 weeks, with the name reservation before both. The 2014 investment guide spoke of 35 working days from a complete and accurate certificate application. IPA rejects forms that are not fully completed, so we check the file before it goes in. Our own preparation time is confirmed in your quote.

The Company + Bank Account pack opens an account with an EMI or online bank remotely. The limits come from the Bank of PNG's foreign exchange manual. Opening a foreign-currency account outside PNG needs prior authority, and a resident's foreign-currency account at home needs the Bank's prior approval. Dividends and capital go offshore through an authorised dealer, with tax clearance for dividends. Exporters must bring export proceeds onshore and convert them into kina within three months of shipment. Before anything is opened, we test the account route against these rules.

Mainly the annual return. It is filed online by someone with authority over the company and costs K250, plus a K1,000 penalty for each late one. IPA removes companies that stop filing and publishes the list. A company removed for a missing annual return can be restored within two years: IPA charges K2,500 for restoration, besides the fee and late penalty for each missing return. The 2022 amendment also requires the company to keep information identifying the beneficial owner of each share, and IPA can make audited accounts a condition of the certificate.