Domestic Tax

You must pay Income Tax if you are an employee, sole proprietor or a person in a partnership and you earn income above Gh¢365  per month. Read more about Personal Income Tax here.

All Taxpayers must file a return on income not later than four (4) months after the end of the year. The return must be in a prescribed form indicating the assessable income, chargeable income, the tax payable, tax paid and any remainder to be paid.

 Any withholding certificates and other relevant information shall be attached to the return.

You can file your returns at any GRA office or online here.

You can File Returns and Make Payments online, or visit any of the DTRD offices to file returns and make payment of taxes. 

If you do not live in Ghana but earn an income in Ghana, you will have to pay the taxes in Ghana. You will have to register with the Ghana Revenue Authority. If you live outside Ghana and you earn an income from a business transaction, Income Tax will be paid by the business.

Yes, you need to register with the GRA to pay Income Tax when you start a business. After you have registered your business with the Registrar General’s Department of Ghana, visit a GRA DTRD office with your TIN, business registration certificate, certificate to commence business and other supporting documents like bank statements, sale records, etc. to get registered. Learn more about Corporate Income Tax.

The Income Tax Stamp is designed for individuals operating in the informal sector, for example, small-scale self-employed dressmakers / tailors, hairdressers / beauticians / barbers, susu collectors, chop bar owners, cooked food sellers, butchers, container / kiosks / table top operators, garage owners, artisans (masons, carpenters, welders, mechanics, vulcanizers, electricians, sprayers), hawkers and itinerant traders. If you do not fit into this category, you will need to pay Income Tax instead of buying a tax stamp.

Yes, you do need it even if you have already paid levies. Read More about the Tax Stamp here.

Income from all sources, unless exempt, is put together and taxed using the graduated tax rate. Find more about Personal Income Tax and Pay As You Earn rates by clicking the links. 

It is an offence if the employer deducts the PAYE but does not pay the same amount to GRA or if the wrong amount is deducted or a wrong declaration is made. The monthly graduated individual tax rate should be used to calculate the amount. Read more on PAYE here.

Payments on account are tax payments made by self-employed people to spread the cost of the year’s tax. It is any partial payment of an amount that is owed, either to you or by you, that is not matched to a specific invoice, but can be matched later. They’re calculated based on your previous year’s tax liabilities, and can be thought of as a way of paying off some of your tax liabilities in advance.

Income taxes are paid on the income filed within the year. In the case of irregular income, the tax will be calculated on the income received for the year. Any person who earns income in Ghana must either visit the nearest GRA DTRD office to declare and pay income tax or pay online File and make Payments.

All newly listed companies do not enjoy incentives. However, the income of a young entrepreneur from the business of Manufacturing, Information and Communications Technology, Agro Processing, Energy production, Waste Processing, Tourism and Creative Arts, Horticulture and Medicinal Plants is exempt from tax for a period of 5 years. For 5 more years after the initial concession, the tax rate applicable will be:

•         Accra & Tema – 15%
•         Other regional capitals outside the three Northern regions – 12.5%
•         Outside other regional capitals – 10%
•         The three Northern regions – 5%

Yes, If you are not satisfied with the provisional assessment served you by the authority, you can object. You can also perform a self-assessment for Income tax, either for yourself or your company. Download the relevant forms here.

If you are not satisfied with a tax decision, including an assessment, you may lodge an objection with the Commissioner- General within 30 days of the tax decision. It must be in writing, and state precisely the grounds upon which the objection is made. You will be notified within 60 days of receipt of the objection, the decision made and reasons for the decision.

A tax relief is an allowance given to a resident individual to reduce his/her tax burden. To apply to the Commissioner – General’s office for relief, you need to fill a Tax Relief Application form and submit at any of GRA’s Domestic Tax Revenue Division offices across the country. You can pick up the form at the office or download here.

A tax refund is a reimbursement to a taxpayer of any excess amount paid to the government. This usually happens when you pay more tax during the year than you actually owe.

Any registered taxpayer who pays taxes in excess is eligible for a refund if they are certain that they don’t owe any other tax arrears. After an application is made, you will receive a response within 30 days.

Within 3 years of the relevant date, apply to the Commissioner General for a refund of tax paid in excess of the tax liability. The Commissioner-General shall prescribe the form of the application. The application must be in writing and contain an explanation as to how the excess is calculated and attach evidence relevant to that calculation.

Relevant date here may mean any of the following:

1. The event that caused the payment of excess tax
2. The date on which a tax return was filed by the person with respect to the payment or
3.  The date of payment of the excess tax.

Foreign earned income is income you receive for services you perform in a foreign country in a period during which your tax home is in a foreign country and you meet either the required residence test or the physical presence test.

The foreign income of a resident person is taxable except, where the employment income of the resident individual is from a foreign source and derived from a non-resident employer; or where a resident person is an employer and the individual is present in a foreign country for at least one hundred and eighty-three (183) days continuous.

Double taxation is the levying of tax by two or more jurisdictions on the same income, asset, or financial transaction.

Double taxation occurs in international trade or investment when the same income is taxed in two different countries. This is when income from foreign investments is taxed both by the country in which it is earned and by the country in which the investor resides.

To avoid this, many countries have developed double taxation treaties that allow income recipients to offset the tax already paid on investment income in another country against their tax liability in their country of residence.

Ghana has Double Taxation Treaties with France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Belgium, the Netherlands, Denmark, Singapore, Mauritius, the Czech Republic, Ireland, and Malta, Switzerland, South Africa, Italy.