Ghana

Individual - Taxes on personal income

Last reviewed - 08 March 2024

Ghana taxes its resident individuals on income from any employment, business, or investment, whether or not the source from which the income is derived has ceased.

Resident individuals are taxed on their worldwide income, and, as such, foreign-sourced income is taxable.

However, an exemption exists for employment income of a resident individual who exercises one's employment outside Ghana and is employed by a non-resident employer or by a resident employer, where that individual is present outside Ghana for more than 183 days.

The following are examples of income from employment, business, and investment a resident individual is taxed on:

  • Gains and profits from any employment, including any allowances and benefits paid in cash or given in kind to or on behalf of an employee other than in respect of a reimbursement of an expense of an employee used in relation to the employment, medical or dental cost, or any passage from or to Ghana, and redundancy pay.
  • Gains or profits from trade, business, profession, or vocation.
  • Gains from realisation of assets and liabilities.
  • Gifts.
  • Dividends.
  • Any charge or annuity.
  • Royalties, premiums, and any other profits arising from property.
  • Receipts, including royalties or periodic or deferred payments, of any kind derived from any transaction wherever and whenever made, affecting directly or indirectly, and/or from any natural resources in Ghana, and notwithstanding whether the receipts are paid within or outside Ghana.
  • Non-residents are liable to Ghanaian income tax on any income derived in Ghana from any trade, business, profession, or vocation, or which is derived from an employment exercised in Ghana.

Personal income tax rates

Residents are subject to tax at rates ranging between 0% and 35% on the following annual graduated scale of income:

Chargeable income (GHS) Rate of tax (%)
First 5,880 0
Next 1,320 5.0
Next 1,560 10.0
Next 38,000 17.5
Next 192,000 25.0
Next 366,240 30.0
Exceeding 600,000 35.0

Non-residents pay taxes at the flat rate of 25%.

Local income taxes

There are no local taxes on personal income in Ghana.