Corporate Income Tax in Ghana

General reference only. This skill is general tax/accounting reference material for AI-assisted workflows. It has not been reviewed for any specific person's facts, documents, elections, deadlines, residency, filing status, or local procedures. Do not rely on it to file, pay, amend, or take a tax position without review by a qualified professional in the relevant jurisdiction.

Tax year: 2026 (year of assessment). Law: Income Tax Act, 2015 (Act 896) as amended; Revenue Administration Act, 2016 (Act 915).

Who this applies to

Companies incorporated in Ghana or elsewhere, and bodies taxed like them: societies, pension funds, governments, partnerships with at least twenty limited partners, unit trusts with at least twenty beneficiaries (GRA). A non-resident company with a Ghanaian permanent establishment is taxed in the same manner as a resident. A company is resident if incorporated under Ghanaian company law, or if its management and control is exercised in Ghana at any time in the year (Act 896 s.101(4)). Residents are taxed on worldwide income, non-residents on Ghana income.

Rates, bands and thresholds

Item	Rate	Conditions	Tax year	Official URL
General rate	25%	Default	2026	https://gra.gov.gh/domestic-tax/tax-types/corporate-income-tax/
Hotels	22%	Principally in the hotel industry	2026	same
Non-traditional exports	8%	Income from those exports	2026	same
Bank loans to farming, loans to leasing companies	20%	That income only	2026	same
Manufacturing in regional capitals	18.5%	Except Accra and Tema	2026	same
Manufacturing elsewhere	12.5%	Outside Accra, Tema and regional capitals	2026	same
Free zone, domestic sales	25%	After the 10-year holiday	2026	same
Free zone, exports	15%	After the 10-year holiday	2026	same
Petroleum, minerals	35%	Income from those operations	2026	same
Sixth Schedule concessions	5% of chargeable income	During the concession period	2026	https://gra.gov.gh/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/INCOME-TAX-AMENDMENT-ACT-2023-ACT-1094.pdf
Lottery operations	20% of gross gaming revenue	First Schedule para 7A	2026	same
Young entrepreneurs after 5-year holiday	15% Accra, Tema; 12.5% other capitals; 10% elsewhere; 5% three northern regions	Listed sectors	2026	https://gra.gov.gh/domestic-tax/tax-types/corporate-income-tax/
Minimum chargeable income	5% of turnover	Losses declared for previous five years; not first five years of operations; not farming	2026	https://gra.gov.gh/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Practice-Note-on-the-Application-of-Minimum-Chargeabe-Income-under-the-Income-Tax-Act-2015-Act-896.pdf
Thin capitalisation	3 to 1 debt to equity	Non-financial resident entity 50% or more held by exempt persons, such as non-residents; interest and exchange loss on the excess debt are not deductible (s.33)	2026	https://gra.gov.gh/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/INCOME-TAX-ACT-2015-ACT-896.pdf
Growth and Sustainability Levy, Category A	5% of profit before tax	Banks, insurers, telecoms, breweries, oil marketing and others listed	2026	https://www.mofep.gov.gh/sites/default/files/reports/revenue/2025%20Annual%20Tax%20Revenue%20Performance%20Report.pdf
GSL, mining and upstream oil and gas	3% of gross production	Rate raised by the 2025 amendment; gold changed later, see Sources	2026	same
GSL, Category C	2.5% of profit before tax	All other entities (Act 1095 Schedule). Due even in a tax holiday (Act 1095 s.2)	2026	https://gra.gov.gh/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/GROWTH-AND-SUSTAINABILITY-LEVY-ACT-2023-ACT-1095.pdf

Concession periods in the GRA table: agro processing and cocoa by-products 5 years, tree crops 10, cash crops and livestock 5, cattle 10, waste processing 7, low-cost housing. The rate during a holiday is the 5% above, then 25%.

Capital allowance class	Assets	Rate	Method	Official URL
1	Computers and data equipment	40%	Reducing balance	https://gra.gov.gh/domestic-tax/capital-allowance/
2	Vehicles, construction equipment, manufacturing plant, plantation costs	30%	Reducing balance	same
3	Rail, ships, aircraft, public utility plant, office furniture, other assets	20%	Reducing balance	same
4	Buildings and permanent structures	10%	Straight line	same
5	Intangibles	1 / useful life	Straight line	same
Petroleum	Separate pool	20%	Straight line	same
Excise stamp machinery	Affixing excise stamps	50%	Importer or manufacturer of excisable goods	same

The base

1. Start with accounting profit. Assessable income is worldwide for residents, Ghana-source for non-residents.
2. Add back book depreciation; deduct capital allowance. Formula: basis x rate x days / 365. The asset must be owned, used in the business and held at period end. Unused allowance does not carry over.
3. Deduct expenses wholly incurred in earning income. GSL is not deductible (Act 1095 s.3).
4. Foreign exchange: revenue losses on debts or holdings deduct. Unrealised losses do not; nor do losses between two residents. Capital losses may be capitalised (Act 1094 s.4).
5. Deduct unrelieved losses of any of the previous five years (Act 1094 s.3).
6. Apply the thin capitalisation limit and the anti-avoidance rule (s.34).
7. Test minimum chargeable income: if the five-year loss test is met, tax is 25% of 5% of turnover when that exceeds the normal result. Tax paid on it is no credit for another year, and unrelieved losses still carry forward (Practice Note 4.3, 4.4).
8. Apply the rate, then credit withholding tax, instalments and foreign tax credit (s.112).

Gains on assets of a business go into the annual return and are taxed at the business rate (GRA). A resident payer that is not an individual withholds 3% (resident seller) or 10% (non-resident) of the consideration (Act 1094 s.13).

Deadlines and filing

Obligation	Date	Form	Official URL
Register tax type	On starting	Portal or Taxpayer Service Centre	https://gra.gov.gh/domestic-tax/tax-registration/
Estimate	Within the first quarter; can be revised to the last day of the basis period	DT 102, DT 102A	https://gra.gov.gh/domestic-tax/tax-types/corporate-income-tax/
Instalments, December year end	31 March, 30 June, 30 September, 31 December	Portal payment	same
GSL estimate	By the first instalment; pay quarterly on the same dates	GRA form	https://gra.gov.gh/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/GROWTH-AND-SUSTAINABILITY-LEVY-ACT-2023-ACT-1095.pdf
Annual return	Four months after year end: 30 April 2027 for 2026	DT 101	https://gra.gov.gh/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/INCOME-TAX-ACT-2015-ACT-896.pdf
Transfer pricing return	Four months after year end	See gh-transfer-pricing	https://gra.gov.gh/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Transfer-Pricing-Regulations-2020-LI-24121-_231207_142107.pdf

A non-December basis period pays on the last day of months 3, 6, 9 and 12 of that period (s.121(2)(a)). Section 124 counts the return from year of assessment; confirm with GRA the due date for a non-December period.

Filing DT 101 on ETAX (ITAS):

1. Activate the company account at www.etax.gra.gov.gh with TIN and the registered contact, and update the profile.
2. Open the company income tax return. Review pre-filled data.
3. Enter the accounts, capital allowance schedule, and rates by income class. Upload accounts and withholding certificates.
4. A duly authorised manager signs the declaration (Act 915 s.28). A paid preparer signs too (s.29).
5. Submit and keep the acknowledgement. Pay any balance in ETAX through Ghana.gov.

Penalties and interest

Failure	Consequence	Official URL
Late return	GHS 500 plus GHS 10 a day	https://gra.gov.gh/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Revenue-Administration-Act-2016-.pdf
Late payment	125% of the Bank of Ghana policy rate, compounded monthly	same
Estimate below 90% of correct tax	Interest on the shortfall	same
No proper records	75% of the tax if deliberate; otherwise lesser of that and GHS 250, monthly	same
False statement	100% or 30% of the shortfall	https://gra.gov.gh/domestic-tax/tax-offences-and-penalties/

Cross-border points

• Dividends, interest, service fees and royalties to non-residents: see gh-cross-border.
• Related-party terms: see gh-transfer-pricing.
• Branches pay 8% on repatriated profits (GRA).

Two worked examples that recompute

Example 1: standard company. Accounting profit GHS 1,000,000, depreciation 200,000, capital allowance 260,000. Chargeable income GHS 940,000. Tax at 25%, GHS 235,000. Instalments paid 150,000 and withholding credits 35,000 leave GHS 50,000 with the return.

name: Company with 940,000 chargeable income
inputs:
  profit: 1000000
  depreciation: 200000
  allowance: 260000
  paid: 185000
steps:
  - chargeable: profit + depreciation - allowance
  - tax: chargeable * 0.25
  - balance: tax - paid
expected:
  chargeable: 940000.00
  tax: 235000.00
  balance: 50000.00

Example 2: does minimum chargeable income bite? A company past its first five years has declared losses for five years. In 2026 it has turnover GHS 8,000,000 and chargeable income nil. Minimum chargeable income is 400,000, so tax is GHS 100,000. If it had GHS 500,000 of ordinary chargeable income, tax of 125,000 is higher, and that applies.

name: Minimum chargeable income on 8,000,000 turnover
inputs:
  turnover: 8000000
  normal: 0
steps:
  - mci: turnover * 0.05
  - base: max(mci, normal)
  - tax: base * 0.25
expected:
  tax: 100000.00

Ask the client first

1. Year end, and when operations began.
2. Sector, location, free zone status, any concession and its start date.
3. Five-year loss history and turnover.
4. Related parties, foreign shareholders, debt to equity.
5. Which GSL category applies.
6. Fixed assets by class.

Sources

Source	URL	Read on
GRA, Corporate Income Tax page, page read in full	https://gra.gov.gh/domestic-tax/tax-types/corporate-income-tax/	2026-11-01
Income Tax (Amendment) Act, 2023 (Act 1094), whole act	https://gra.gov.gh/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/INCOME-TAX-AMENDMENT-ACT-2023-ACT-1094.pdf	2026-11-01
GRA Practice Note on Minimum Chargeable Income, OCR, whole note	https://gra.gov.gh/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Practice-Note-on-the-Application-of-Minimum-Chargeabe-Income-under-the-Income-Tax-Act-2015-Act-896.pdf	2026-11-01
Income Tax Act, 2015 (Act 896), OCR of scan; ss 33, 101, 102, 112, 121, 124, 125 read	https://gra.gov.gh/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/INCOME-TAX-ACT-2015-ACT-896.pdf	2026-11-01
Revenue Administration Act, 2016 (Act 915); ss 27 to 30, 46, 47, 70 to 73 read	https://gra.gov.gh/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Revenue-Administration-Act-2016-.pdf	2026-11-01
Ministry of Finance, 2025 Annual Tax Revenue Performance Report; GSL passages and Appendix Table 9 read	https://www.mofep.gov.gh/sites/default/files/reports/revenue/2025%20Annual%20Tax%20Revenue%20Performance%20Report.pdf	2026-11-01
Growth and Sustainability Levy Act, 2023 (Act 1095), whole act	https://gra.gov.gh/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/GROWTH-AND-SUSTAINABILITY-LEVY-ACT-2023-ACT-1095.pdf	2026-11-01
GRA, Capital Allowance page, page read in full	https://gra.gov.gh/domestic-tax/capital-allowance/	2026-11-01
GRA, Withholding Tax page (rates table, last edited 2022), page read in full	https://gra.gov.gh/domestic-tax/tax-types/withholding-tax/	2026-11-01
GRA, Capital Gains Tax page, page read in full	https://gra.gov.gh/domestic-tax/tax-types/capital-gains-tax/	2026-11-01
GRA, Tax Registration page, page read in full	https://gra.gov.gh/domestic-tax/tax-registration/	2026-11-01
GRA, Tax Offences and Penalties page, page read in full	https://gra.gov.gh/domestic-tax/tax-offences-and-penalties/	2026-11-01
GRA, ITAS FAQs, page read in full	https://gra.gov.gh/itas-faqs/	2026-11-01
Transfer Pricing Regulations, 2020 (L.I. 2412); regs 11, 12, 13, 16 read	https://gra.gov.gh/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Transfer-Pricing-Regulations-2020-LI-24121-_231207_142107.pdf	2026-11-01

Not yet confirmed: (1) The GRA CIT page says businesses pay 1% during holidays; Act 1094 sets 5%, and the Act is followed. (2) Text of the GSL amendment Act 1131 and of a 2026 GSL amendment for gold was not opened; the Finance Ministry report confirms the 3% rate and the sunset to 2028, but the current gold rate is not confirmed. The Category A and C rates are from Act 1095 as enacted; the amendment was not read to confirm they are unchanged. Example figures here leave GSL out. (3) Act 896 is the 2015 scan; later amendments other than Act 1094 and the Act 1178 notice were not read, including Acts 1066 and 1071. (4) Financial Sector Recovery Levy status for 2026. (5) DT 101 screen layout on ETAX.