GRA to implement new taxes from May 1

The Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) has set the implementation date for the new tax measures announced in the 2021 budget, signed by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and subsequently gazetted on March 31, 2021.

The current financial and tax laws will make these levies automatically take off after it is passed by parliament and secures the president’s signature and gazetted.

The GRA has hinted at plans to announce the exact date these taxes will be charged for effective computation.

In a notice issued by the GRA, “it will go ahead with implementing two out of the various taxes that were passed from May 1, 2021.”

It stated that the COVID-19 recovery levy act and the energy sector management levy act. The COVID-19 health recovery levy will impose 1% levy on the supply of goods and services. This will apply to goods and services subject to the VAT flat rate.

On the Energy sector levy, it will result in an imposition of 20% per litre of fuel and 18 pesewas per kilogram of the LPG.

Based on this announcement businesses are expected to start charging these taxes on their product and therefore encouraged to update the system and comply accordingly.

This also means that the effective collective VAT rate could be around 19.25%.

However, concerning the financial sector levy, it appears that banks may start paying 5% on their profit and in instalment starting from 30th June this year.

Meanwhile, the government is hoping to raise some 5.5 billion Ghana cedis from these taxes for the 2021 fiscal year.