TaxLawGHby MSL Business School
MSL Business SchoolGhana business tax authority guide
Tax incentives in Ghana
A practical map of Ghana’s principal income-tax concessions, exemptions, special rates, location incentives and additional deductions—together with the qualification evidence each relief requires.
Published and prepared by MSL Business School through TaxLawGH, its tax and fiscal policy education platform.
MSL Business School tax incentives at a glance
MSL Business School Controlling framework
A Ghana tax incentive applies only to the qualifying income, period, activity and location.
The current general concessionary rate is 5% of qualifying chargeable income. Free Zone and automotive incentives are express exemptions, while other reliefs operate through special rates, location rebates, capital allowances or additional deductions.
Each stream must be traced separately. A company does not obtain a concession merely because its name or registration description resembles a qualifying activity.
Initial concessions and exemptions
Principal time-limited business incentives
| Qualifying activity | Period and starting point | Treatment during period |
|---|---|---|
| Agro-processing conducted wholly in Ghana | First 5 years from commercial production | 5% |
| Cocoa by-product business conducted wholly in Ghana | First 5 years from commercial production | 5% |
| Tree-crop farming | 10 years beginning with first harvest | 5% |
| Cash-crop farming, fish farming or livestock other than cattle | First 5 years from commencement | 5% |
| Cattle farming | First 10 years from commencement | 5% |
| Rural banking | First 10 years from establishment | 5% |
| Waste-processing company | First 7 years from commencement | 5% |
| Certified low-cost housing company | First 5 years from commencement | 5% |
| Qualifying venture-capital financing company | First 10 years from first qualification | 5% |
| Licensed Free Zone developer or enterprise | First 10 years from commencement of operations | Exempt |
| Registered automobile manufacturer or assembler—semi-knocked down | 3 years from commencement | Exempt |
| Registered automobile manufacturer or assembler—complete-knocked down | 10 years from commencement | Exempt |
| Qualifying young entrepreneur in a listed sector | First 5 years from commencement | Exempt |
The automobile periods are cumulative where production changes category; the aggregate exemption cannot exceed ten years.
Current rate: Older publications that describe the general Sixth Schedule concessionary rate as 1% are no longer current; Act 1094 substituted 5%.
Post-concession location rates
Seven listed farming and processing activities move into a five-year location regime.
The five-year post-concession location period applies to tree-crop farming; cash-crop farming; fish farming; livestock farming other than cattle; cattle farming; agro-processing conducted wholly in Ghana; and a cocoa by-product business conducted wholly in Ghana.
| Location of qualifying business | Rate for next five years | Scope |
|---|---|---|
| Accra or Tema | 20% | Qualifying post-concession income |
| Other regional capital outside the Northern Savannah Ecological Zone | 15% | Qualifying post-concession income |
| Outside a regional capital | 10% | Qualifying post-concession income |
| Northern Savannah Ecological Zone | 5% | Qualifying post-concession income |
Closed list: Rural banking, waste processing, low-cost housing, venture-capital financing, Free Zone operations and automobile manufacturing do not enter this location table merely because they have a separate initial incentive.
Young-entrepreneur post-exemption rates
A young entrepreneur—an entrepreneur not more than 35 years old—qualifies only where the business is manufacturing, information and communications technology, agro-processing, energy production, waste processing, tourism and creative arts, horticulture or medicinal plants. After the initial five-year exemption, the following location rates apply for the next five years.
| Location | Rate for next five years |
|---|---|
| Accra and Tema | 15% |
| Other regional capitals outside the three Northern Regions | 12.5% |
| Outside other regional capitals | 10% |
| The three Northern Regions | 5% |
The “three Northern Regions” wording is the formulation in Act 956. The entrepreneur may carry forward an unrelieved loss for five basis periods under this incentive.
Permanent and location-based special rates
Special rates can apply without a time-limited holiday.
| Income stream | Current rate | Core boundary |
|---|---|---|
| Company export of non-traditional goods | 8% | Qualifying non-traditional export income |
| Company principally engaged in hotel industry | 22% | Chargeable income of the qualifying hotel company |
| Manufacturing in regional capital outside Accra and Tema | 18.75% | Qualifying manufacturing income at that location |
| Manufacturing outside Accra, Tema and regional capitals | 12.5% | Qualifying manufacturing income at that location |
| Free Zone export income after initial exemption | 15% | Goods and services exported outside national customs territory |
| Free Zone domestic-market income after initial exemption | 25% | Goods and services supplied to national customs territory |
| Financial-institution income from qualifying farming or leasing loans | 20% | The qualifying income stream, not all institutional income |
No stacking by default: Where more than one description appears relevant, the Act’s source, sector, location and anti-duplication rules determine the operative treatment.
Additional deductions and accelerated allowances
Some incentives reduce the tax base instead of the tax rate.
Additional deduction of 10%, 30% or 50% of qualifying salaries and wages where fresh graduates are respectively up to 1%, above 1% to 5%, or above 5% of workforce.
A privately owned university is exempt where it ploughs back 100% of profit after tax into the business, subject to the statutory conditions.
Qualifying machinery and equipment imported for affixing excise tax stamps receives 50% capital allowance in year one and 50% in year two.
A resident person may credit qualifying foreign income tax against Ghana tax on the relevant foreign income, limited by the statutory average-rate rule.
Qualifying contributions to approved charitable, scholarship, development, sports and government causes can be deductible under their conditions.
Qualifying research and development expenditure incurred in producing income is deductible even where capital in nature.
Important income exemptions and a critical sunset
Exemption is different from a concessionary rate.
Income of a cocoa farmer from cocoa is exempt under the statutory framework.
A dividend paid by one resident company to another can be exempt where the recipient controls at least 25% of the voting power, subject to the conditions.
Income of approved unit trusts, mutual funds and real estate investment trusts, and specified holder income, receives the statutory treatment.
The specific exemption for gains from securities traded on the Ghana Stock Exchange applied only up to 31 December 2021. A current gain is not exempt merely because the security is GSE-traded.
Government income, qualifying local-authority activities and specified non-commercial public corporations have statutory exemptions.
Customs and other fiscal exemptions that require approval or an exemption agreement are governed separately by the Exemptions Act framework.
Trace the legal basis: Do not describe every incentive as a tax holiday. Exempt income, a 5% concession, a reduced company rate, a deduction and accelerated capital allowance have different computational effects.
Qualification and compliance
Build the incentive file before applying the relief.
- 01Identify the exact provision
Map the business, product, income stream and taxpayer to the specific First or Sixth Schedule rule.
- 02Fix the commencement date
Document establishment, commencement, commercial production, first harvest or first qualification as required by the relevant provision.
- 03Prove the location
Retain site, address, operational and production evidence for any location-based rate.
- 04Segment qualifying income
Use separate ledgers and allocation schedules so qualifying income and expenditure are not mixed with ordinary-rate activity.
- 05Maintain licences and certifications
Keep Free Zone, housing, automotive, rural-bank, venture-capital and other sector approvals throughout the relevant period.
- 06File at the correct treatment
Reflect the relief in estimates, annual returns and supporting computations, and preserve the evidence for review.
Incentive decision sequence
Test the legal character before calculating the tax.
Separate levies: Growth and Sustainability Levy and Financial Sector Recovery Levy can apply notwithstanding an income-tax holiday or concession, according to their own legislation.
Frequently asked questions
Tax incentives in Ghana questions
What is the current Ghana tax-holiday rate?
Income entitled to the general Sixth Schedule concession is taxed at 5% of chargeable income. Older 1% references predate the 2023 amendment.
Are Free Zone companies exempt forever?
No. A licensed Free Zone developer or enterprise has an initial ten-year exemption. Afterward, the current rates are 15% on export income and 25% on domestic-market income.
Which businesses receive the post-concession location rates?
Tree-crop, cash-crop, fish, livestock other than cattle, cattle, qualifying agro-processing and qualifying cocoa by-product businesses enter the five-year location regime after their initial concessions.
What are Ghana’s manufacturing location rates?
Qualifying manufacturing income is taxed at 18.75% in a regional capital outside Accra and Tema and 12.5% outside Accra, Tema and the regional capitals.
What is the non-traditional export rate?
A company’s qualifying income from export of non-traditional goods is taxed at 8%.
Does an income-tax holiday remove separate levies?
Not automatically. Each levy has its own charge and can expressly apply regardless of an income-tax holiday or concession.
How does the fresh-graduate deduction work?
It is an additional deduction of 10%, 30% or 50% of qualifying salaries and wages, depending on fresh graduates as a percentage of the workforce.
Who qualifies for Ghana’s young-entrepreneur incentive?
An entrepreneur not more than 35 years old carrying on one of the listed businesses receives a five-year exemption, followed by five years of location-based rates, subject to the statutory conditions.
Are gains on GSE-traded securities currently exempt?
No general exemption arises merely from GSE trading. The specific statutory exemption ended after 31 December 2021, so the current asset-gain rules must be applied.
Can a company apply an incentive without approval evidence?
The legal conditions control, and sector-specific licences, certification, commencement dates, location and income tracing must be supported.
MSL Business School legal reference map
Primary authority and operative framework
- Income Tax Act, 2015 (Act 896), as amendedExempt amounts, deductions, foreign tax credits, company taxation and source rules.
- First Schedule to Act 896, as amendedCompany, hotel, export, manufacturing, financial-institution, Free Zone and concessionary rates.
- Sixth Schedule to Act 896, as amendedTemporary concessions, Free Zone and automotive exemptions, location treatment and additional deductions.
- Income Tax (Amendment) Act, 2023 (Act 1094)Current 5% general concessionary rate and current Free Zone post-concession treatment.
- Income Tax (Amendment) (No. 2) Act, 2017 (Act 956)Young-entrepreneur exemption, listed sectors, age limit, post-exemption location rates and loss carry-forward.
- Exemptions Act, 2022 (Act 1083), as amendedApproval and administration of covered fiscal exemptions.
- Revenue Administration Act, 2016 (Act 915), as amendedReturns, evidence, rulings, assessments, interest, penalties and objections.
Authority hierarchy: The legislation controls the tax result. Administrative guidance and the online portal explain current procedure; they do not create a rate, exemption, deduction or deadline.
Institutional publisher
TaxLawGH is MSL Business School's Ghana tax education platform.
This guide forms part of MSL Business School's public tax and fiscal policy education work. MSL publishes TaxLawGH to make Ghana's tax law accurate, understandable and useful to taxpayers, employers, practitioners, students and policy professionals.
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