Tax
Income Tax Act 2015 and Revenue Administration Act 2016, with VAT at 15% plus levies
The Income Tax Act 2015 (Act 896) governs corporate and personal income tax, with the standard company rate at 25%. The Revenue Administration Act 2016 unified procedure. VAT is 15% under Act 870, with the NHIL, GETFund and COVID-19 levies charged separately on the same base.
Key rules
- Jurisdiction — Ghana Revenue Authority; objections to the Commissioner-General, then the Independent Tax Appeals Board, then the High Court.
- Deadline — Annual company returns are due within four months of the year end
- Deadline — VAT returns are filed monthly by the last working day of the following month
- Deadline — Quarterly instalment payments of income tax are due by the end of each quarter
Governing law
- Income Tax Act 2015Act 896
- Value Added Tax Act 2013Act 870
- Revenue Administration Act 2016Act 915
- Communications Service Tax Act 2008Act 754
In practice
The standard corporate rate is 25%, with concessionary rates for agro-processing, free zone enterprises after their holiday, and higher rates for extractives and banking. The Revenue Administration Act 2016 consolidated assessment, objection, appeal, collection and penalty rules that had been duplicated across each tax statute, and the Independent Tax Appeals Board established under a 2020 amendment created a specialist appellate tier before the High Court. A practical complication distinctive to Ghana is the levy structure: the National Health Insurance Levy, the GETFund Levy and the COVID-19 Health Recovery Levy are charged on the VAT base but are not themselves VAT, so they are not recoverable as input tax, which raises the effective indirect tax burden above the headline 15%. Transfer pricing regulations require documentation and annual returns for related-party transactions, and Ghana operates a limited treaty network.