Before you start

Non-citizen Ghana Card, whose PIN is your taxpayer number
A determination of your residence position
Employment records or business accounts
Records of any foreign income, if you are resident

Step-by-step

1
Work out whether you are resident
Presence in Ghana for 183 days or more in any 12-month period makes you resident. Residents are taxed on worldwide income; non-residents only on Ghana-source income but at a flat 25% with no tax-free band. Someone on a short assignment can be worse off under the non-resident regime than a resident on the same salary.
OnlineWho: You
2
Use your Ghana Card PIN as your tax number
Since 1 April 2021 the Ghana Card PIN has replaced the individual TIN for tax identification. If a form asks for a TIN, give the PIN. There is no separate registration to complete for individuals.
OnlineWho: You
3
Check your PAYE against the current bands
Resident rates are progressive across seven bands, from a nil band at the bottom to 35% at the top, and the band thresholds are adjusted periodically — most recently in line with minimum-wage changes. Confirm the current thresholds on the GRA site rather than from a saved calculator.
Via employerWho: You
4
Understand what is inside the payroll deductions
Beyond PAYE, 5.5% of basic salary is your social security contribution and 13% is the employer's, part of which funds the National Health Insurance levy. If you have a valid NPRA expatriate exemption, the social security element should not be deducted.
Via employerWho: You
5
File an annual return where required
Employees taxed entirely through PAYE are often not required to file, but anyone with additional income, foreign income within scope or self-employment must. The GRA's taxpayers' portal handles filings and issues tax clearance certificates.
OnlineWho: YouAnnually
6
Get a tax clearance certificate when you need one
GRA tax clearance certificates are required for a wide range of transactions and are also part of the employer's work-permit documentation. If the company's certificate is out of date, your permit renewal stalls — worth checking rather than assuming.
OnlineWho: You

Documents you’ll need

Ghana Card, for the PIN
Payslips and the employer's PAYE records
Records of foreign income if resident
NPRA exemption letter, if applicable
Business accounts, for the self-employed

Things most newcomers don’t know

The non-resident flat rate can be worse than the resident progressive scale, which inverts the usual intuition.

Non-residents in Ghana pay a flat 25% on Ghana-source income from the first cedi. Residents pay a progressive scale with a nil band at the bottom, and only reach 35% at genuinely high income. On a mid-level salary, being resident is often cheaper. People arriving on assignments structured to stay under 183 days sometimes assume they are optimising and are doing the opposite — the calculation is worth doing rather than assuming.

Source: Ghana Revenue Authority

There is no individual TIN to register for any more; the card is the number.

The Ghana Revenue Authority replaced individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers with the Ghana Card Personal Identification Number from 1 April 2021, with a transition period that ended that December. Guidance written before then sends people looking for a registration that no longer exists, and forms that still say 'TIN' are asking for the PIN. It also means the Ghana Card sits at the centre of your tax file as well as your bank and your permit.

Source: Ghana Revenue Authority

183 days in any 12-month period, not in the tax year.

Ghana's residence test runs on any rolling 12-month period rather than the calendar or fiscal year. Someone arriving in September and leaving the following August can cross the line without ever having spent 183 days in a single tax year. Anyone splitting time between Accra and elsewhere should be counting on a rolling basis, which is a different and less forgiving arithmetic than most people run.

Source: Ghana Revenue Authority

The employer's tax clearance certificate is part of your immigration file.

The Ghana Immigration Service asks for the sponsoring company's current tax clearance certificate and most recent audited accounts as part of a work and residence permit application. A company that is behind with the GRA cannot get you a permit, however good your own paperwork is. If a renewal is dragging with no explanation, this is the first thing worth asking about.

Source: Ghana Immigration Service; Ghana Revenue Authority

Common mistakes to avoid

Structuring a stay under 183 days without checking whether the flat 25% is actually worse.
Searching for an individual TIN that has not existed since 2021.
Counting the 183 days against a tax year instead of a rolling 12 months.
Not claiming the NPRA expatriate exemption and paying social security unnecessarily.
Discovering at permit renewal that the employer's tax clearance certificate has lapsed.

Some of this may be out of date. Spotted something inaccurate? Help us keep it right for the next newcomer.