Banks to collect 20% tax on digital subscriptions from October 15

The Commissioner-General of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA), Anthony Sarpong.

Customers using Ghana-issued bank cards to pay for qualifying cross-border digital services will face a combined 20% tax on applicable transactions from Thursday, October 15, 2026, following new collection directives from the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA).

The measure will affect payments for a range of digital services, including streaming platforms such as Netflix, Spotify, Disney+ and Showmax; productivity tools such as Microsoft 365, Adobe and Zoom; and artificial intelligence services, including ChatGPT.

Qualifying transactions involving cloud computing, online advertising, digital gaming, cybersecurity services, online learning and some travel bookings may also be covered, depending on the nature of the service and the applicable tax rules.

The rollout does not introduce a new tax but changes how existing statutory taxes are collected.

Under the arrangement, commercial banks and relevant payment service providers will collect applicable taxes when qualifying transactions are processed and remit the amounts to the GRA.

The legal basis is the Value Added Tax Act, 2025 (Act 1151), which took effect on January 1, 2026.

The combined 20% comprises 15% Value Added Tax (VAT), a 2.5% National Health Insurance Levy (NHIL) and a 2.5% Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund) Levy.

Some banks have notified customers that the applicable taxes will be included in the total amount charged when their debit cards are used to pay for affected services, while stressing that the charges are statutory obligations rather than bank-imposed fees.

For a qualifying subscription costing GH¢1,000 before tax, the VAT would amount to GH¢150, with GH¢25 each for the NHIL and GETFund levies.

This would bring the total payment to GH¢1,200. Customers could therefore pay 20% more where the applicable taxes have not already been included in the advertised price.

The change could also increase operating costs for businesses that depend on foreign software, cloud infrastructure, digital advertising and AI tools.

The GRA’s revised collection approach is intended to improve compliance and strengthen revenue mobilisation from cross-border digital transactions by collecting the applicable taxes at the point of payment.

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DISCLAIMER: The Views, Comments, Opinions, Contributions and Statements made by Readers and Contributors on this platform do not necessarily represent the views or policy of Multimedia Group Limited.