Ghana 2026 Mid-Year Budget Review

Regulations supporting Act 1151 will be developed in 2027; GRA will continue issuing administrative guidelines and practice notes in the meantime.

The cross-border technology solution for VAT from non-resident platforms was piloted in April 2026; nationwide rollout awaits regulatory approvals.

Government is rolling out Fiscal Electronic Devices; the pilot is at an advanced stage under the enabling Act 966 framework.

Government will introduce periodic rewards for customers who obtain valid VAT invoices.

Parliament's Order Paper scheduled presentation and first reading of a Value Added Tax (Amendment) Bill, 2026.

The Customs Bill would cap warehousing at three months for perishables, six months for general goods and twelve months for raw materials.

Re-warehousing would be limited to six months and every bonded warehouse would use an electronic inventory system linked to Customs.

Duties and taxes on goods declared for transit would become due at the first port of entry, supported by customs-to-customs arrangements with destination countries.

New licences would be restricted to genuine manufacturers; raw materials would have to be used within twelve months; duty exemptions would be limited to eligible raw materials; full duties and taxes would apply to domestic-market entries.

Government would mandate use of the appropriate Tax Identification Number for all importers.

Government would enhance Import Declaration Form oversight, introduce statutory declaration-processing timelines and improve the valuation framework for leasehold transactions.

Government would enforce bank guarantees for lifting refined petroleum and require movements only through approved pipelines and electronically tracked distribution systems.

Government would remove the tax exemption on bunkering services.

Publican AI was fully deployed in March 2026 to flag customs valuation, classification and origin risks.

Government will roll out a next Publican phase covering the vehicle-valuation module.

Importers with unretired IDFs would be blocked from generating new IDFs; retirement periods would be ninety days for general goods and one hundred and twenty days for equipment and capital goods.

Under the PCI, GRA will complete ITAS enforcement and analytical capabilities and connect ITAS with ICUMS by end-December 2026.

The Excise Bill would combine value-based and quantity-based taxation for wines and spirits.

Government would review sliding-scale excise rates for beer and stout to align revenue objectives while preserving local-production incentives.

Government would require electronic registration of stockists, deploy nationwide track-and-trace and enforce bank guarantees.

The Excise Bill would provide penalties of up to three times the excise duty for tampering.

Government would abolish the 20 per cent excise duty on locally manufactured fruit juices introduced in 2023.

The PCI table requires GRA to complete a comprehensive review of excise and customs legislation by end-December 2026.

Government will enforce use of the Ghana Card Number as the sole Tax Identification Number for all tax transactions.

A multi-year expenditure commitment was scheduled for presentation to engage a firm to develop and deploy a Ghana Domestic Revenue Collection Platform.

The review says Government ended misuse of the Tax Refund Account.

The Ministry of Finance will publish a new Medium-Term Revenue Strategy for 2027–2030 by end-June 2027.

Government pledged 7 per cent of non-oil tax revenue plus domestic bond proceeds to the Sinking Fund Cedi Account and is amending PFM sinking-fund provisions and developing regulations.

Government proposes reducing the commitment-basis primary-surplus target from 1.5% to 0.5% of GDP from 2027 and submitting a PFM amendment bill with the 2027 Budget.

Government proposes shorter procurement lead times, tighter single-source and restricted-tender rules and sanctions for unlawful approvals.

Government allocates GHS 5 billion to GANRAP/GoldBod within unchanged total expenditure and appropriation.

Government is updating upstream petroleum laws and expects to submit proposed amendments to Parliament before end-2026.

The Ministry of Finance will publish a Fiscal Strategy Document with no-policy-change baselines, forecast-error analysis and reconciliations to the Budget.

The Ministry will fully operationalise the Fiscal Council through appointments, staffing and data-sharing MOUs.

The PCI calls for COCOBOD Act amendments on governance, reporting, audit, producer pricing, stabilisation, quasi-fiscal activities, debt and risk management.

The review states that a new National Petroleum Authority Bill received Cabinet approval and was submitted to Parliament.

Government targets an increase in non-oil tax revenue from 13.1% of GDP in 2025 to 14.1% in 2026 through compliance, broader bases and administration rather than higher rates.

GRA will complete a comprehensive review of income-tax legislation by end-June 2027.

Government reports progress procuring a concessionaire to reintroduce road and bridge tolls.

Parliament's Order Paper scheduled presentation and first reading of an Income Tax (Amendment) Bill, 2026.

The review reports that Government introduced a sliding-scale royalty regime for gold.

The review reports that the COVID-19 Health Recovery Levy was abolished through the 2025 VAT reforms.

The review reports that NHIL and GETFund Levy were decoupled from the VAT base and made eligible for input tax deductions.

The review reports a reduction in the effective VAT rate from 21.9 per cent to 20 per cent.

The review reports that VAT on reconnaissance and prospecting for minerals was abolished.

The review reports that the VAT registration threshold was raised from GHS 200,000 to GHS 750,000.

The review reports that zero-rating for locally manufactured textiles was extended to 2028.

The review lists the Electronic Transfer Levy among taxes already abolished.

The review lists the betting tax among taxes already abolished.

The review lists the Emissions Levy among taxes already abolished.

The review lists VAT on motor insurance among taxes already abolished.