Commercial banks in Ghana are set to enforce a 20 per cent tax deduction on qualifying cross-border digital transactions starting tomorrow, October 15, 2026.
Spearheaded by the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA), the directive shifts collection responsibilities to local financial institutions using Ghana-issued bank cards, impacting popular platforms where applicable levies are excluded from upfront pricing.
The statutory arrangement—rooted in the Value Added Tax Act, 2025 (Act 1151)—encompasses a 15 per cent VAT alongside 2.5 per cent levies for both the National Health Insurance and the GETFund.
Consequently, everyday consumers and corporate entities utilising foreign software, cloud infrastructure, AI tools, and streaming services face heightened operational expenses.
Affected providers range from Microsoft, Adobe, and AWS to Netflix and OpenAI, with several financial institutions already issuing advisory notices to assure clients that the deductions stem from statutory obligations rather than bank-imposed fees.
For a digital subscription priced at GH¢1,000, these components add GH¢150, GH¢25, and GH¢25 respectively, creating a total tax liability of GH¢200 and bringing the final cost to GH¢1,200.
By: Rainbowradioonline.com/Ghana