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What is the corporate income tax rate in Ghana?
The general rate is 25% of chargeable income. Different rates apply to qualifying hotel income, non-traditional exports, specified financial-institution income, manufacturing income by location, Free Zone income, lottery operations, petroleum operations, mineral operations and statutory concessions.
Authority and research routeOpen
How long can a company carry forward a tax loss in Ghana?
An unrelieved business loss may be used in the five years of assessment following the loss year, subject to source, continuity, ownership, ring-fencing and specialised sector rules.
Authority and research routeOpen
What are Ghana’s capital allowance rates?
The principal rates are 40% for Class 1, 30% for Class 2, 20% for Class 3, 10% for Class 4 and one divided by useful life for Class 5.
Authority and research routeOpen
Primary authority
Does every employee have to file an annual return?
Not necessarily. A resident individual who has no tax payable for the year under section 1(1)(a) is not required to file a return of income. The Commissioner-General may nevertheless require a return by written notice, and the individual may elect to file.
Authority and research routeOpen
When is a Ghana annual income tax return due?
Section 124(1) of Act 896, as amended by section 11 of Act 924, requires the return not later than four months after the end of the person's basis period. A taxpayer with a calendar-year basis period therefore ordinarily files by 30 April of the following year.
Authority and research routeOpen
Is Ghana withholding tax a final tax?
Only the categories the legislation designates as final have that treatment. These include dividends paid by a resident company, investment rent outside a business of sale or letting, specified examination and endorsement fees, and covered payments to non-residents that are not derived through a Ghanaian permanent establishment. Resident contract deductions and resident petroleum-subcontractor deductions are advance tax credits.
Authority and research routeOpen
Primary authority
What is the withholding threshold for goods, works and services?
The resident contract-payment rule applies where the contract value exceeds GHS 2,000, with related contracts for the same goods, works or services aggregated. This is not a universal threshold for every withholding category.
Authority and research routeOpen
Primary authority
What is the VAT registration threshold in Ghana?
For taxable supplies of goods, the principal annual threshold is taxable supplies exceeding GHS 750,000 over twelve months or less. A forecast test and a three-month acceleration test can require registration earlier. Taxable services do not have a turnover threshold.
Authority and research routeOpen
What is the difference between exempt and zero-rated VAT in Ghana?
An exempt supply is not subject to VAT, and input tax on purchases or imports for exempt supplies is not deductible. A zero-rated supply is a taxable supply charged at 0%, so qualifying input tax remains deductible.
Authority and research routeOpen
Does an invoice automatically make input tax deductible?
No. The buyer must also satisfy the taxable-use, evidence, timing, restriction and apportionment rules. The invoice is necessary evidence, not the only condition.
Authority and research routeOpen
What should a business do if its E‑VAT system goes offline?
Notify the Commissioner-General and restore the Certified Invoicing System online and accessible within 24 hours.
Authority and research routeOpen
Which law governs Ghana digital-services VAT in 2026?
The Value Added Tax Act, 2025 (Act 1151), which became operative on 1 January 2026.
Authority and research routeOpen
Primary authority
How long does a taxpayer have to object to a Ghana tax decision?
The objection must be lodged within thirty days after the taxpayer is notified of the tax decision.
Authority and research routeOpen
What happens if the objection is late?
An objection is ordinarily due within 30 days after notification. Before that period expires, the person may apply in writing for an extension; the Commissioner-General may grant it if satisfied that reasonable grounds exist. Section 42(8) states that a tax decision not objected to within 30 days is final.
Authority and research routeOpen
How much must be paid before an objection is entertained?
The statutory condition is all disputed import duties and taxes for an import dispute, and thirty per cent of the disputed tax for other tax decisions, unless lawfully waived, varied or suspended.
Authority and research routeOpen
How long does a taxpayer have to claim a general tax refund in Ghana?
The application must be made within three years after the later of the event causing the excess, the relevant return filing date and the excess-payment date.
Authority and research routeOpen
How is late-payment interest calculated?
It is 125% of the statutory rate, compounded monthly, on the amount outstanding at the start of each month or part month. The statutory rate is the Bank of Ghana monetary policy rate.
Authority and research routeOpen
Can GRA assess outside six years?
Act 915 permits an assessment at any time where fraud, wilful default or serious omission by or on behalf of the taxpayer is discovered.
Authority and research routeOpen
Must GRA give advance notice of an audit?
Section 36 requires advance written notice of an audit. Separate access, information, monitoring or magistrate-authorised powers may operate under their own conditions.
Authority and research routeOpen
Can GRA collect from a bank or customer of the taxpayer?
A third-party debtor notice can require a person owing or holding money for the taxpayer to pay the specified amount to GRA, up to the statutory lesser amount.
Authority and research routeOpen
Is import duty calculated on the supplier invoice?
Not necessarily. Customs value generally begins with the transaction value and applies the adjustments required by Act 891, including relevant transport, loading, unloading, handling and insurance.
Authority and research routeOpen
What taxes apply to taxable imported goods in 2026?
Import VAT is 15%, with NHIL at 2.5% and GETFund levy at 2.5%, using the legally applicable import bases. Customs duty and any other levy or fee are determined separately.
Authority and research routeOpen
What are the current property-transfer rates?
Act 1109 prints 0.25% where consideration is not more than GHS 10,000; 0.5% where it is more than GHS 10,000 but less than GHS 50,000; and 1% where it is more than GHS 50,000. The printed schedule does not assign a band to exactly GHS 50,000; obtain an official assessment or section 10 adjudication for that amount.
Authority and research routeOpen
Are pension benefits taxable in Ghana?
Benefits under Act 766 and qualifying retirement payments from a resident fund are exempt or excluded, but an early withdrawal or non-resident-fund gain may be taxable.
Authority and research routeOpen
Who qualifies for old-age relief?
A resident individual aged 60 years or more may claim annual old-age relief of GHS 1,500.
Authority and research routeOpen
Is a Ghana resident taxed on foreign income?
Generally yes, unless a statutory exemption or applicable treaty provision changes the result.
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Primary authority
What does beneficial owner mean for treaty relief?
The recipient must have the substantive right to use and enjoy the income rather than receive it merely as an agent, nominee or conduit, subject to the treaty’s exact wording.
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Does a foreign company need an office in Ghana to create a PE?
No. Domestic law also covers substantial equipment, a qualifying construction or installation project, services in Ghana and specified agent activity.
Authority and research routeOpen
What documentation is required?
L.I. 2412 requires contemporaneous documentation comprising a master file and a local file, subject to specific simplified approaches.
Authority and research routeOpen
Primary authority
Does the 70% export rule mean 30% can always be sold locally?
No. It sets the maximum domestic share but does not remove approvals, declarations, duties, taxes or other conditions.
Authority and research routeOpen
Does a project agreement automatically create a Ghana tax exemption?
No. The exemption must be authorised and approved through the framework required by Act 1083 and the relevant tax law.
Authority and research routeOpen
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