If you pay for Netflix, Spotify, ChatGPT or Zoom with a Ghana-issued card or mobile money, your bank or wallet can now start taking the Ghana digital services tax at the moment you pay. The Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) says the 20% rate is not new. What changed is who collects it: banks and payment companies, instead of the foreign apps alone.
The short version
Ghana is moving collection of its 20% tax on foreign digital services to the payment step, so banks, card issuers and mobile money providers take it as you pay. The GRA says people whose subscriptions already include the tax should not be charged twice.
- The 20% is made up of 15% VAT, a 2.5% National Health Insurance Levy and a 2.5% GETFund Levy.
- It covers services from foreign companies paid for with a Ghana-issued bank card, mobile money or another digital payment channel.
- A GH¢100 service that does not already include the tax would cost GH¢120, and a $20 monthly plan would cost $24, or $48 more a year.
- GRA Commissioner-General Anthony Kwasi Sarpong told Joy FM that about 92 foreign companies already pay the tax, and that the GRA has found about 100 more that do not.
- Imported physical goods bought online are not part of this system; they stay under Customs rules.
In plain terms: for many people nothing changes, because big services already add the tax to their Ghana prices. For anyone paying a foreign app that has not been charging it, the bill can go up by a fifth overnight. The risk worth watching is a double charge, where the app includes the tax in its price and the bank adds it again.
How the Ghana digital services tax is collected now
Under Ghana’s VAT rules, foreign companies selling digital services to people in Ghana are already supposed to register, charge the tax and pay it to the GRA. The GRA’s e-commerce tax page sets out that duty for non-resident suppliers.
The new system adds a second net. In a statement reported by Ghanaian media on Oct. 14, 2026, the GRA said the tax portion of qualifying payments will be identified and collected at the point of payment through participating banks, financial institutions and payment service providers. It applies when you pay with a Ghana-issued bank card, mobile money or another digital payment platform. The GRA statement did not give a start date. Standard Chartered Bank told its customers it would begin applying the tax on Oct. 15, Asaase Radio reported. Citi Newsroom reported that other participating banks and payment companies are expected to follow.
The GRA was clear that this is not an extra 20% on top of the old tax. Its statement, as quoted by Citi Newsroom, said the new system “does not introduce a new tax or increase the existing VAT rate.”
Which apps and services are covered
The tax applies to services delivered online by companies based outside Ghana. Examples listed by Citi Newsroom include streaming (Netflix, Spotify, Disney+, Showmax), software and work tools (Microsoft 365, Adobe, Zoom, Google Workspace), AI tools such as ChatGPT, cloud hosting (Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud), and online ads on Google, Meta, TikTok and LinkedIn.
Physical goods you order from abroad are not part of this. Those still go through Customs when they arrive.
What it costs: the math
The tax is worked out on the price before tax. Here is what that looks like when a service has not been adding it:
- GH¢100 subscription: GH¢20 tax, GH¢120 total.
- $20 a month AI plan: $4 tax, $24 a month, or $288 a year instead of $240.
- $10 a month music plan: $2 tax, $12 a month, or $24 more over a year.
Flip it around and you can check a price that already includes the tax: the tax is one sixth of what you pay. On a GH¢120 bill, GH¢20 is tax and GH¢100 is the service.
How to check you are not paying it twice
- Open your last receipt or invoice from the app. If it shows VAT, NHIL or GETFund already, the app is collecting the tax itself.
- Compare the amount on your bank or mobile money statement with the price on that receipt. A charge about 20% higher than the receipt is a sign the tax was added again.
- Keep both records, then contact the GRA through its official channels. The GRA says people charged in a way that does not match its statement can ask it for help and redress.
- Tell your bank too. Banks have described the charge as a tax the law requires, not a bank fee, according to Citi Newsroom, so your bank can confirm what was taken and why.
Mobile money users should also watch for scam messages that use tax news as bait, such as texts asking you to “verify” a wallet to avoid the charge. Our guide to protecting your mobile money account covers the warning signs.
What we don’t know yet
The GRA has not published a list of which banks and payment companies are already collecting, or how refunds for double charges will work. It also has not said which of the roughly 100 newly identified companies will be brought in first. Expect more price changes on foreign apps as those companies register and start adding the tax themselves.
Ghana’s digital rules have been busy this month. If you run a website, our report on the hijacked .gh web addresses explains what to check, and if ChatGPT is the service you pay for, our guide to what the free plan now includes may save you the bill.
