If you’re wondering why taxes, duties and levies at the port in Ghana are so high, we just took a real Customs Import Declaration Form for an imported 2023 Toyota Land Cruiser and did the computation by hand.
See our computation (by hand) on the left and compare with the actuals
The Government introduced this 1% COVID-19 Health Recovery Levy in March 2021. The Act said this 1% levy was to “support COVID-19 expenditures”
Over 2 years down the line, this levy is still charged on most locally procured goods and services. It’s also charged on almost all
If your mother is 60 years of age and over, and you provide for her needs in any way, you’re entitled to a tax relief of GHS 1,000 every year.
- This also extends to your other aged dependent relatives over 60 years of age (maximum of 2)
Did you know this?
Happy Mother’s Day!
Yes, agreed. We pay several taxes in Ghana. But before anyone gets angry about this, where you decide to eat also counts.
The “SC” and “SUR” you see here both do not go to the Government. The restaurant keeps these.
The “SC” we see here is most likely a “Service Charge”
The
If you’re sponsoring the education of a child or ward in Ghana
- You’re entitled to a tax relief of GHS 600 per child this year
- That’s GHS 1,800 for 3 children (the maximum allowed)
Did you know this?
We took an invoice from one of the Telecom companies in Ghana (right) and recomputed all the taxes by hand (left) to show you how these are calculated.
Your
- DSTV subscription fees
- Mobile Airtime/Internet Data/Broadband etc
will all follow this same computation
Same
We’ve read all the pages of all the new Tax Bills passed by Parliament, so you don’t have to.
Here’s ALL that’s changing.
Share with anyone who also wants to know what is changing.
Happy Father’s Day to all men
Here’s a reminder of some tax reliefs available for each year
1. If you’re married/engaged, with a dependent spouse or at least 2 dependent children = GHS 1,200 per year
2. If you’re sponsoring the education of a child or ward = GHS 600 per
Parliament has on the night of 31 March 2023 passed the following Bills into law:
1. Excise Duty (Amendment) Bill, 2022
2. Income Tax (Amendment) (No.2) Bill, 2022
3. Growth and Sustainability Levy Bill, 2022
4. Ghana Revenue Authority (Amendment) Bill, 2022
Be on the lookout
In all your “packaging”, remember that the GRA has a special unit known as the “High Net Worth (HNW) Unit”. And they’re watching…
Once you’re profiled as a HNW individual & you’re invited for “discussions”, forget it; you go make hot pass (whether it’s all “packaging” or not).
The proposed reduction of the E-Levy from 1.5% to 1% is no reduction at all (at the “substance-over-form” level).
- When you slash a tax rate (by 0.5%) but eliminate the tax-exempt threshold (GHS 100) entirely, you’ve only further widened the tax base.
False sense of reduction.
Expect alcohol to be more expensive
Excise Duty rates have increased effective May 2023
1. Wines (including sparkling wine) - from 22.5% to 45%
2. Spirits - from 25% to 50%
3. Cider Beer - from 17.5% to 20%
This is in addition to an effective 21.9% for VAT & allied levies
To be fair, the proposal in the 2024 Budget is actually a reduction in the VAT rate.
The current 15% standard rate VAT is to be reduced to a 5% flat rate VAT. So yes, the 5% VAT is technically a “new” rate, but it is a reduction from the higher 15% VAT that currently exists.
Important Update
1. If you’re an employee/self-employed/resident individual earning taxable income in Ghana, these are the new tax rates that will apply to you.
2. If you’re in employment, and you receive vehicle benefits as part of your employment benefits, the taxable amounts
You can recover the new line item (Code 101) of GHS 91,978.58 Upfront Payment of VAT as soon as you or the importer of records register(s) for VAT and file(s) a VAT return.
It is a 12.5% upfront payment only made by importers who are unregistered for VAT, but who import taxable
There’s a lot of misinformation regarding the subject matter of taxes in Ghana in recent times, and we expect to see a lot more misinformation as we head into the coming 2024 election year.
Here’s a summary of how to filter through all the noise and avoid being misinformed about
If you know anyone preparing for examinations on Taxation in Ghana
- here’s a thread of fully solved Past Exam Questions covering different topics (we’ll keep updating the thread until we cover all topics)
- Our own little way of giving back to society. Please share
Economics 101. Higher labour costs to companies will lead to higher operating costs which will lead to higher prices of goods & services (based on demand elasticity). Those same higher operating costs will lead to less demand for labour (higher unemployment). Back to square one?
Imagine we wake up tomorrow and government makes a low no company should pay a worker less than 800 cedis a month. Won't you be proud of yourself??
#FixTheCountryGhana
The VAT Law has been amended.
It’s VAT, so you’ll be affected one way or the other.
Here’s what has changed.
KEY HIGHLIGHTS:
1. The headline VAT rate has increased from 12.5% to 15%. The “effective” VAT rate should see a corresponding increase from 19.25% to 21.9%
Very important information (on the Ghana Card & TIN). Don’t skip this.
Do you have
- a Ghana Card, but no TIN?
- a TIN, but no Ghana Card?
- both Ghana Card and TIN?
Then this one is for you. Here is what you need to do as soon as possible.
Please share
If a person consistently flaunts their “wealth” online or frequently brags about how much money they make on social media (even if they’re only exaggerating or just joking)
- this may be used by the Revenue Authority as a basis to assess them for taxes (should the need arise)
E-Levy Update
Act 1089 has been passed by Parliament to amend the Electronic Transfer Levy Act, 2022 (Act 1075)
KEY HIGHLIGHTS
- E-levy rate is now 1% (down from 1.5%)
- GHS 100 daily threshold remains (Parliament did not accept the 2023 Budget proposal to remove the threshold)
By law, only a Ghanaian citizen or a business wholly owned by a Ghanaian citizen is permitted to
- operate a beauty salon or barbering shop in Ghana
Are we fully complying?
- If you’re sponsoring the education of a child or ward in Ghana
- You’re entitled to a tax relief of GHS 600 per child this year
- That’s GHS 1,800 for 3 children (the maximum allowed)
The GRA is rewarding informants.
If your information leads to recovery of < GHS 2.5 m, you could make up to GHS 25k
If > GHS 2.5m is recovered, reward will be decided by GRA mgmnt
For information on un-customed cars, you can make between GHS 500 & GHS 1.2k based on car type⬇️
PwC Ghana is accepting applications for its 2024 Assurance (Audit) & Tax Graduate Programs.
Assurance:
Tax:
Application Deadline: 28 Feb 2024
This is the best place to start a career in Accounting here in Ghana.
Please share.
- If you’re sponsoring the education of a child or ward in Ghana
- You’re entitled to a tax relief of GHS 600 per child this year
- That’s GHS 1,800 for 3 children (the maximum allowed)
Emergency...if you know any Ghanaian YouTuber, please tag them
- If your channel has viewers from the USA, YouTube may deduct some 24% in taxes from your ad revenue
- if you don’t provide some info by 31 May 2021
- Ghana hasn’t signed a DTA with the USA so please act NOW
In the very early hours of 23 December 2023 before Parliament was adjourned sine die, the following Bills were passed into law.
- Appropriation Bill, 2023
- Customs (Amendment) Bill, 2023
- Emissions Levy Bill, 2023
- Excise Duty (Amendment) (No.2) Bill, 2023
- Exemptions
For anyone struggling with basic accounting, check out the below videos we recorded in 2021
1. Correction of Errors:
2. Control Accounts:
3. Bank Reconciliations:
Debit the receiver, credit the giver
Debit the receiver, credit the giver
Debit the receiver, credit the giver
Debit the receiver, credit the giver
Debit the receiver, credit the giver
Debit the receiver, credit the giver
Debit the receiver, credit the giver
If you owe a tax you are refusing to pay,
- the Ghana Revenue Authority can write to ANYONE who owes you money
- and instruct them to pay the money they owe you directly to the GRA
- and you cannot sue this person who owes you, when they pay the GRA, because the law
It’s interesting how sports bettors in Ghana have for years been referring to themselves as “investors”
The new tax amendment that imposes the 10% withholding tax on bet winnings actually categorises winnings from betting under “Income from Investment”
Interesting coincidence?
Gold Fields (GF) and AngloGold Ashanti (AGA) have announced a proposal to form a Joint Venture (JV) in Ghana.
Excluding the interest to be held by the Government of Ghana, GF & AGA will hold 66.7% and 33.3% respectively of the JV.
This JV will create Africa’s largest gold mine.
Many small businesses in Ghana have no business Incorporating Companies.
Start as a Sole Proprietorship or Partnership. They’re way less burdensome from a compliance perspective.
When the business grows, or when you need external funding, you can always incorporate a Company.
The fact is fetish priests, traditional healers and individual undertakers in Ghana are all liable to income tax
- In fact, for these persons, there is a provision of law for a quarterly tax stamp of between GHS 3 & GHS 25
- What is now left is who to go and collect these taxes
The Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) exceeded its 2021 tax collections target of GH₵57.06 billion
- The actual collection came to GH₵57.32 billion
- This performance represents a growth rate of 26.3% over the 2020 revenue
- This is the highest annual growth in the last 10 years
Effective January 2022, the Institute of Chartered Accountants, Ghana (ICAG) has introduced an extra exam sitting in a year, making it 3 sittings in total;
- April, August and December
All other things being equal, one can become a Chartered Accountant (CA) much faster now
The Institute of Chartered Accountants, Ghana (ICAG) has announced minimum professional service fees for Audit/Assurance and Non-Assurance Engagements to be applied by Practitioners in Ghana.
Effective date is 1 January 2024.
PwC Ghana is accepting applications for its 2023 Assurance (Audit) & Tax Graduate Programs.
Assurance:
Tax:
Application Deadline: 21st April
This is the best place to start a career in Accounting here in Ghana.
Please share.
There are three (3) main factors why your import bill is so high (the 4th one is a bonus)
1. The impact of FX rates
2. The sheer number of import taxes and levies
3. The method of computation of number 2 above
4. Over-age vehicles
There’s a bonus tip at the end to save some
The duty we dey pay on cars coming into the country, why is it so high? Like I’ve seen the breakdown before but it still doesn’t make sense to me. What’s the reason?
Apart from the above two (SC and SUR) the rest (see below) look familiar and are expected (and it’s fine to complain about these)…we also believe these taxes are excessive:
GFT = GETFund Levy
NHL = National Health Insurance Levy (NHIL)
CRL = COVID-19 Health Recovery Levy
GTL =
Website update:
Imagine having access to all tax rates and key dates everywhere you go.
Think of any tax rate/date - this page has it.
Instantly updated anytime the law changes - so you can trust you have 24/7 access to the most up-to-date information
Here’s the hard truth.
We don’t need to introduce any new taxes here in Ghana.
We don’t even need to increase the rate or widen the scope of any of the existing taxes.
-> Full Enforcement (of the existing tax laws) to maximise taxpayer Compliance
This is all we need.
To whom it may concern
- If you really flaunt your “wealth” online (on social media) or categorically brag about how much money you make on Twitter (or elsewhere)
- this can be used by the GRA as a basis to assess you for taxes (should the need arise)
Please pass this on
- Tax Avoidance = you rightly take advantage of the provisions of the law to pay the least amount of taxes possible. Nothing wrong with this
- Tax Evasion = you use every means possible to not pay a tax you’re obliged to pay. This is unlawful & can get you into trouble
Got it?
The University of Ghana School of Law is starting 2 Masters Programs in ‘Tax Law, Policy and Practice’
- A Master of Laws (LLM); and
- A Master of Arts (MA)
Program starts in January 2023.
See full details below:
The President of Ghana is exempt from income tax
- This exemption is only for all remuneration and benefits associated with the office of the President
- This exemption does not apply to the Vice President
Did you know this?
The Beauty of Tax Planning
- Kumasi and Ntonso are just about 25 kilometres apart.
- But did you know setting up your manufacturing plant in Ntonso as opposed to setting it up in Kumasi could save you 6.25% in company income taxes?
- This locational incentive is just one out
2021 was undoubtedly a great year for GH equities, but like investment professionals always say, “past performance is no guarantee for future performance” so do not quickly jump on equities in 2022 just because 2021 was good.
If you don’t have the heart, stick to fixed income.
People are making money on the Ghana Stock Exchange and it gets talked about less.
GHS1000 invested in FanMilk in January 2021 became GHS3700. A 270% rise.
Benso Palm did 233%
Guinness - 100%
Ecobank - 75%
- GSE
StatsGH can always link you to a broker
If you are a business owner, there has never been a better time to put your house in order. Take advantage of this.
This is like the GRA saying “…though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow…” (it’s Sunday so why not?)
You have up to 30 September 2021…
It’s results day for ICAG students who sat their CA exam in July 2023.
If there’s a reason why we keep doing what we do, it’s because of texts like this one.
He had written this paper 4 times before joining our class. They passed once they joined our class.
Congratulations to
If you’re a student of taxation in Ghana (ICAG & CITG), register for this FREE session which will update you on all the key changes in Ghana’s tax laws.
Date: Monday, 31 July 2023
Time: 6pm GMT
Multiple tax laws have seen amendments recently, with some new taxes even
Wishing all aspiring Chartered Accountants (CAs) taking their ICAG exams this week the very best of luck!
Throughout these months, your hard work and dedication have been remarkable. Now, it's your moment to shine.
Stay confident, stay focused, and let your knowledge and skills
Companies that employ fresh graduates in Ghana get tax incentives
- ranging from a 10% deduction to a 50% deduction of the salaries of the fresh graduates
- based on the percentage of their workforce that is made up of fresh graduates
In 2023, the personal income tax rates affecting resident individuals changed during the year. We had to use new rates from 1 May 2023.
When something like this happens, the tax law provides for a very specific way to determine your personal income tax liability for the year.
On tax planning
Manufacturing companies in Accra & Tema pay income tax at a rate of 25%
- Had they been located in a regional capital (outside Accra), this would drop to 18.75%
- If they moved to any other location that isn’t a regional capital, this would again drop to 12.5%
Exams can be tough to prepare for.
- If you know anyone sitting the Institute of Chartered Accountants, Ghana (ICAG) exam in May 2021 in these papers
- Financial Reporting
- Principles of Taxation (Level 2)
- Advanced Taxation (Level 3)
Please share. It’s FREE to join
Today’s 17 April 2023
By 30 April 2023, you must file your 2022 Personal Income Tax return with the GRA (unless you have no tax payable in 2022)
- If you failed to file in April last year, as of today, you owe the GRA GHS 4,030 in penalties alone.
Do well to file this year
Companies that employ fresh graduates in Ghana get tax incentives
- ranging from a 10% deduction to a 50% deduction of the salaries of the fresh graduates
- based on the percentage of their workforce that is made up of fresh graduates
When you hear “Deferred Tax”, this is not a tax type you have to pay.
What the accountant calls their Carrying Value (CV), the taxman calls their Tax Base (TB).
Differences between the accounting CV and the taxman’s TB would cause “Temporary Differences”.
Temporary Differences
If you are an employee of a mining, petroleum, timber, building, construction or farming business
- and your employer provides you with accommodation on the site (or in close proximity to the site) of the business as part of your employment benefits
- that accommodation benefit
The general Corporate Tax Rate was 25% when the tweet you made reference to was posted. It still remains 25% today.
Since the time of that tweet,
- We’ve seen the introduction of an extra 5% Financial Sector Recovery Levy (FSRL) payable on the Profit before Tax (PBT) of banks
In 2021, income taxes paid by Self-Employed persons in Ghana amounted to GHS 493.57 million
Employee taxes (PAYE) paid by persons in formal employment amounted to GHS 9.72 billion (with a B!)
Clearly, the way forward is taxing the informal sector, and not first lettered “E” one
Ghana’s new “Income Tax (Amendment) Act, 2023 (Act 1094)” is the 13th time the “Income Tax Act, 2015 (Act 896)” is being amended
- Since the Act was passed in 2015
Personal Finance Tip
- When you invest in shares in Ghana, your dividends are taxable at 8%
- When you invest in Government of Ghana bonds and bills, your interest income is fully exempt from income tax in Ghana
On tax planning
Manufacturing companies in Accra & Tema pay income tax at a rate of 25%
- Had they been located in a regional capital (outside Accra), this would drop to 18.75%
- If they moved to any other location that isn’t a regional capital, this would again drop to 12.5%
- "Tax Avoidance" and "Tax Evasion" are not the same
- Tax Avoidance is legal; taking advantage of provisions in tax laws to pay the barest minimum
- Tax Evasion is illegal; outright trying to avoid a tax obligation you have to discharge
- One of these could get you jailed
- Tax Avoidance = you rightly take advantage of the provisions of the law to pay the least amount of taxes possible. Nothing wrong with this
- Tax Evasion = you use every means possible to not pay a tax you’re obliged to pay. This is unlawful & can get you into trouble
Got it?
The GRA is rewarding informants
If your information leads to recovery of < GHS 2.5 m, you could make up to GHS 25k
If > GHS 2.5m is recovered, you could make up to GHS 250k
For information on un-customed cars, you can make from GHS 500 - GHS 1.2k based on car type
More below:
If you owe a tax you are refusing to pay,
- the Ghana Revenue Authority can write to ANYONE who owes you money
- and instruct them to pay the money they owe you to the GRA
- and you cannot sue this person who owes you, when they pay the GRA, because the law indemnifies them.
Ghana’s tax landscape is becoming increasingly complex to navigate.
Join our “Ghana Tax Law Interpretation Masterclass”, where you’ll gain true mastery as we demystify all the complexities.
No matter your background, you’re sure to learn something new in this Masterclass. See
We have summarised the key Tax Measures introduced in today’s 2024 National Budget presentation by the Minister of Finance in this Budget Highlights Summary.
What are your thoughts on these Tax Measures?
The Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) has announced that effective 1 January 2024, all owners of vehicles used for ride hailing purposes will have to pay a quarterly Vehicle Income Tax (VIT) and acquire VIT stickers.
This will apply to all owners/driver-owners of vehicles used for
A lot actually
We’ll hit on a key one
Young entrepreneurs (<=35yrs) in the following sectors: manufacturing, ICT, agro processing, energy production, waste processing, tourism & creative arts, horticulture and medicinal plants are exempt from income tax for their first 5 years
All income tax matters in Ghana are primarily provided for in the ‘Income Tax Act, 2015 (Act 896)’
Act 896 has been in force since 1 January 2016, and has been amended several times since then.
Act 896 came to replace the now repealed Internal Revenue Act, 2000 (Act 592)
If you owe a tax you are refusing to pay,
- the Ghana Revenue Authority can write to ANYONE who owes you money
- and instruct them to pay the money they owe you to the GRA
- and you cannot sue this person who owes you, when they pay the GRA, because the law indemnifies them.
The GRA keeps a special account called the "Ghana Revenue Authority General Refund Account".
- A maximum of 6% of all tax revenue collected is kept in this account
- This account is used by the GRA to settle all tax refund claims made by taxpayers
We’re looking for a mobile app developer (preferably based in Ghana) for a short term project.
If you’re a mobile app developer and you have a portfolio of apps you have built before, do share with us via DM.
Please retweet.
Politics aside, are we aware any church in Ghana that allows this to happen in their church will be breaching Section 97 of the Income Tax Act (Act 896), potentially rendering them liable to pay income tax on all their income (that is, if they had Section 97 approval in the first
Taxation of Bonus Payments to Employees in Ghana
Your Employer pays you your huge annual bonus for all the hard work you’ve done during the year. How is this taxed?
First, we determine 15% of your Annual Basic Salary (referred to as “15% threshold” subsequently). Then we
We’re happy to announce that a student of our TaxLawGH Chartered Institute of Taxation, Ghana (CITG) tuition program was this past weekend (1st July 2023) adjudged the
- Overall Best Candidate in International Taxation (Paper 9)
for the February 2023 CITG Exam sitting.
Registration has commenced for students sitting the
- Institute of Chartered Accountants, Ghana (ICAG) exams - July 2023; and
- Chartered Institute of Taxation, Ghana (CITG) exams - August 2023
To register, visit:
- ICAG:
- CITG:
It’s actually not a new tax. We’ve silently had this in our laws for as long as we can remember. It appears the GRA is rather seeking to now enforce compliance and collection of this tax.
On rates,
- Residential properties = 8%
- Non-residential (commercial) properties = 15%
10 days ago, we updated our website to include a page that has ALL the important tax rates/rules and key compliance dates in Ghana (updated immediately the law changes).
Since then, it has quickly become the most visited page on our website.
In the past 7 days alone, we’ve had
🚨ICYMI🇬🇭🗣️🇬🇧: Ghanaian Content Creator Kwadwo Sheldon speaks to BBC World News about GRA’s reported intention to tax digital content creators.
“How much are you gonna to earn from the content creators that you wanna tax so bad?”
-
📹:
@iAmDanielDadzie
Val’s day is fast approaching.
Did you know
- that when you get your boyfriend, girlfriend or any loved one(s) a Val’s day gift
- by law, they (the recipient of the gift) have to pay “gift tax” on the value of the gift?
The applicable tax rate is 25% of the value of the gift
We are of the view that both
- the Institute of Chartered Accountants, Ghana (ICAG) and
- the Chartered Institute of Taxation, Ghana (CITG)
in their next syllabus review exercise, should introduce Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs) to test part of all their examinations. It could
Business Set-Up Options in Ghana
When it comes to deciding what legal structure a business should take, most small businesses in Ghana have no business incorporating Companies.
Take, for instance, your new, albeit small Instagram hair/clothing business, still uncertain about
Ghana seeks to join African countries like Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda by imposing taxes on both bettors and betting companies.
According to the 2022 TGM International Sports Betting Survey, here are the most popular betting platforms in Ghana (left), and this is how often
Partnerships in Ghana are not taxed at the entity level, save for final withholding tax payments.
The Partnership profit/loss is allocated to the Partners and taxed at their level as individuals.
The applicable tax rate is the personal income tax rates (ranging from 0% to 35%).
Hello
@statsgh
, on Uber Ghana and other ride-hailing companies in Ghana (like Bolt), yes, they pay corporate income tax on their profits earned in Ghana. They are also required to pay withholding taxes when they make qualifying payments for goods, works, services and other...
Taxation of Bonus Payments to Employees in Ghana
Your Employer pays you your huge annual bonus for all the hard work you’ve done during the year. How is this taxed?
First, we determine 15% of your Annual Basic Salary (referred to as “15% threshold” subsequently). Then we