The measure of good compliance work is that you stop thinking about it. Returns filed on time, instalments computed properly, capital allowances claimed in full, and no surprise at year end because nothing was left to year end.

Where compliance goes wrong

Almost always in the gap between the accounting records and the tax computation. Disallowable expenditure never separated during the year. Capital allowances computed from a fixed asset register nobody verified. Provisions taken to the profit and loss account without considering deductibility. Each is small. Together they are the assessment.

The instalment problem

Quarterly instalments are estimated, and businesses either overpay and finance the Ghana Revenue Authority for a year, or underpay and take an interest charge. Getting the estimate close requires a view on the year's result three months in, which means the management accounts have to be worth something. This is where compliance and reporting quality meet.

What we do differently

We maintain the tax position through the year rather than reconstructing it in the fourth month after year end. Disallowables are tagged as they arise, the capital allowance schedule is kept current, and the deferred tax position is reviewed at each reporting date. Filing then becomes a formality.

25%

The general corporate income tax rate

4 months

From your year end to the annual return

Quarterly

Instalment payments, for a December year end

Scope

What the compliance service covers

Taken as a whole for most clients, because the pieces are worth more together than separately.

Annual corporate tax return

Computation, disclosures and filing within four months of the year end, prepared from records reconciled through the year rather than assembled at the deadline.

Quarterly instalments

Estimates based on a real view of the year's result, revised as the position changes, so you neither finance the GRA nor take an interest charge.

Capital allowances

A maintained schedule agreed to the fixed asset register, with additions and disposals captured as they happen and allowances claimed in full.

Deferred tax and disclosure

The deferred tax computation and the tax note for your financial statements, prepared to the framework that applies to you.

Process

How the year runs

Compliance work follows a calendar. Ours is published so you know what is happening and when.

The handover, if you are switchingWe review the last two filed returns before taking anything on. Where prior filings contain errors we tell you plainly and set out the options, including voluntary disclosure, before anything is submitted in our name.

Position review

The last two years of returns, the ledger and any GRA correspondence. We find what is there before agreeing what to do about it.

Weeks 1 to 2

Compliance calendar

Filing and payment dates, with the internal deadlines that have to be met to hit them, assigned to named people on both sides.

Week 2

Quarterly cycle

Instalment computation, review of disallowables, and capital allowance updates.

Each quarter

Year end

Computation, deferred tax and the tax note, prepared alongside the audit rather than after it.

At year end

Filing

Within four months. A formality if the preceding steps happened.

Within 4 months

Engagement

Fees, timing and who does the work

Fee basis

Annual retainerSet on turnover, complexity and the number of entities. Advisory work quoted separately.

Who does the work

Tax manager, partner reviewedFranklina Nintori manages delivery. Michael Siaw Larbi reviews and signs.

Response time

One working dayEvery query. Same day where the GRA has set a deadline.

Indicative only. Every fee is quoted in the proposal, before any work starts, and held unless the scope changes.

Questions

Questions before you appoint

When is the corporate tax return due?

Within four months of the financial year end. For a December year end that is 30 April. Quarterly instalments fall due through the year, and the transfer pricing return is filed alongside the annual return where the regulations apply.

Can you take over mid-year?

Yes. We review what has been filed, identify anything outstanding and pick up the calendar from where it stands. Where prior filings contain errors we will tell you before anything is submitted in our name.

What if our instalments were wrong?

Underpaid instalments attract interest from the original due date. Overpayment ties up cash for up to a year. We recompute the position, correct it going forward, and where there is exposure we quantify it before the GRA does.

Do you also handle the audit?

Only where independence permits, and not where we prepared the accounts. Many clients use us for tax and another firm for audit, which is a perfectly normal arrangement and avoids the question entirely.

Our records are behind. Is that a problem?

It is the normal starting point. Discovery establishes how far back it goes, we quote the catch-up separately from the ongoing fee, and we tell you plainly if anything is overdue with the GRA before it becomes an assessment.

Read before you brief us

ToolGhana Tax Calculator: PAYE, VAT and withholding tax ServiceGRA tax audit support, if a review has already opened ServiceVAT and indirect taxes under Act 1151

Next step

Send us your last two filed returns.

We will tell you what looks right, what looks like exposure, and what it costs to take the compliance off your desk.

Request a compliance proposal Speak to a partner

Contact

+233 53 362 2433 info@elixiraudits.com

1 Alex Nkrumah Street, Airport West, Accra

Also under Tax

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VAT, NHIL and GETFund under Act 1151

VAT registration, monthly returns and the reconciliation between output tax, input tax and the ledger. Since Act 1151 took effect we have been reworking input tax positions, because the levies became claimable and most businesses are still treating them as a cost.

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Exemption and incentive reviews

Tracing the basis of every benefit, exemption and concession you are applying, through the Exemptions Act 2022 (Act 1083), the applicable tax legislation and any approval that had to be given. Where the basis does not hold, we tell you before the Ghana Revenue Authority does.