Home/Services/Tax/VAT and Indirect Taxes
Tax
VAT and indirect tax services in Ghana
The 2026 reset changed more than the rate.
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.
Request a VAT review All taxAct 1151 replaced the old VAT Act from 1 January 2026 and did three things that matter: it abolished the COVID-19 Health Recovery Levy, it recoupled NHIL and the GETFund Levy into the VAT base, and it made both of them deductible as input tax.
The change most businesses have missed
Before 2026, NHIL and GETFund were straight levies added to cost before VAT was applied, and they could not be claimed. They were a real expense that cascaded through every step of a supply chain. Under Act 1151 all three components sit on the same taxable value and all three are recoverable by a registered person holding a valid VAT invoice.
What we see in practice is that the sales side gets updated because customers notice, and the purchase side does not. Businesses carry on writing the levies off to expense and never reclaim input tax they are entitled to. That is not an assessment risk. It is money left with the Ghana Revenue Authority every month, and nobody comes to tell you.
Registration and the flat rate
The threshold for suppliers of goods rose to GHS 750,000. All service providers must now register regardless of turnover unless the Commissioner-General determines otherwise. The VAT Flat Rate Scheme was abolished, and businesses previously on it must charge standard rated VAT and reconcile properly.
Pricing
If your prices were built when the levies were a cost, they now carry margin you did not plan for, or your competitors have already passed the saving on. Either way the cost build-up needs revisiting, and that is a commercial conversation rather than a compliance one.
VAT 15% plus NHIL 2.5% plus GETFund 2.5%, on one base
Deductible as input tax from 1 January 2026
Registration threshold for suppliers of goods
Scope
What the VAT service covers
Most clients start with a transition review, because the 2026 changes are still working through most ledgers.
Act 1151 transition review
Testing whether your invoicing, your input tax treatment and your system postings reflect the new rules. This is where the recoverable amounts usually surface.
Monthly returns and reconciliation
Preparation and filing, with output tax, input tax and the general ledger reconciled rather than the return simply being prepared from a report.
Input tax recovery
Reviewing claimed and unclaimed input tax, including the levies, and correcting the position within the periods still open to amendment.
Registration and deregistration
Threshold analysis, registration where required, and deregistration for businesses that fall below it or came off the abolished flat rate scheme.
Process
How a VAT engagement runs
The transition review comes first, because it usually changes what the ongoing service needs to cover.
Transition review
Sample invoices both sides, system postings, and the input tax position since January. One to two weeks.
Weeks 1 to 2Quantification
What is recoverable, what is at risk, and what has to be corrected. Written, with the periods identified.
On completionCorrection
Amendments where periods remain open, and system and template changes so it does not recur.
Weeks 3 to 4Monthly cycle
Return preparation, reconciliation and filing by the last working day of the following month.
MonthlyAnnual review
Testing the position afresh each year, because the legislation is moving.
AnnuallyEngagement
Fees, timing and who does the work
Fee basis
Fixed fee, then retainerThe transition review is quoted as a fixed fee. Ongoing returns are a monthly retainer set on transaction volume.Who does the work
Tax manager, partner reviewedWith a partner on anything involving a correction or a disclosure.Filing deadline
Last working dayOf the month following the reporting period.Questions
Questions on the 2026 changes
Are NHIL and GETFund claimable as input tax now?
What is the combined rate?
Does the Flat Rate Scheme still exist?
Who has to register?
Can we recover input tax we failed to claim earlier in the year?
Related
Read before you brief us
Next step
Send us one sales invoice and one purchase invoice.
We will tell you within one working day whether the treatment is right and whether you are leaving input tax unclaimed. No charge for that.
Also under Tax
Corporate tax compliance and returns
Annual returns, quarterly instalments, capital allowances and the reconciliation between accounting profit and taxable profit, handled as a routine rather than as an annual emergency.
GRA tax audit and objection support
Support through a tax audit, an assessment or a demand: the correspondence, the evidence, the objection within the statutory window, and the negotiation. Deadlines here are short and unforgiving, which is why the first call matters more than the last.
Transfer pricing under L.I. 2412
Documentation, benchmarking and the annual return under the Transfer Pricing Regulations 2020 (L.I. 2412), for businesses with related party transactions. And, before any of that, the harder question of whether the charge itself would survive a review.
PAYE, SSNIT and expatriate tax
PAYE, SSNIT, Tier 3 relief, benefits in kind, bonus treatment and expatriate taxation. Payroll sits between finance and HR and frequently belongs to neither, which is exactly why officers look there first.
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.