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Claim: Multiple posts on Facebook and other social media platforms claim that the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) has introduced a “new 20% tax” on subscription services like Netflix, Google, and Amazon.
VERDICT: Misleading. The 20% charge is not a new tax. It combines existing statutory taxes (15% VAT, 2.5% NHIL, and 2.5% GETFund Levy) that have been in Ghana’s VAT legislation for years. The GRA is only changing how it collects these taxes, not introducing a new one.
Full text
Over the last couple of days, Social media has been inundated with reports about a new 20% tax on Netflix, ChatGPT and other applications.
Some Facebook users, including Kennedy Osei Nyarko, Eugene Baah, King Nayo, and Plough News, have been emphatic that this tax is new and will have dire repercussions for poor Ghanaians.
Kennedy Osei Nyarko, a member and sympathiser of the opposition New Patriotic Party, wrote on Facebook, “What name will this new tax be called? Social media tax or electronic entertainment tax? …E-Levy was bad yesterday, but social media & online entertainment streaming tax is good today. A bunch of hypocrites parading themselves as angels.”
The Plough News post generated over 500 reactions. These comments notwithstanding, Ghana has long required foreign digital providers to charge VAT on services sold to consumers in the country.
But is this truly a new tax imposed on Ghanaian citizens?
The posts began circulating as banks started applying the tax on Oct. 15, 2026, raising concerns that people could mistake their first deduction for a newly introduced levy. This could lead some to dispute legitimate charges while others overlook duplicate deductions that should be reported.
The issue also affects businesses that rely on foreign software, cloud services and digital advertising, meaning the confusion extends beyond individual consumers.
DUBAWA investigated because it affects how much people pay, whom they hold responsible, and how they respond to the charges.
Verification
DUBAWA checked the GRA’s statement published on Oct. 14, 2026. The statement says the new system “does not introduce a new tax or increase the existing VAT rate,” and that VAT on digital services supplied by non-resident providers is an existing statutory obligation.
Copy of the statement from GRA
It gives the effective rate as 20%, made up of 15% VAT, a 2.5% National Health Insurance Levy, and a 2.5% GETFund Levy.
An example of tax being charged on digital services
Source: Netflix receipt
Again, DUBAWA listened to the Commissioner-General of the Ghana Revenue Authority, Anthony Kwasi Sarpong, who appeared on Joy FM on Oct. 14, 2026. He explained that the current 20% combines 15% VAT, a 2.5% National Health Insurance Levy, and a 2.5% GETFund Levy, applied under the Value Added Tax Act, 2025 (Act 1151), which came into force on Jan. 1, 2026.
The commissioner said the obligation to pay VAT for the services dates back to 2013. The VAT Act, 2013 (Act 870) required non-resident e-commerce providers serving Ghana to register for VAT, but the framework for collecting VAT on non-resident digital service providers formally took effect in April, 2022. Act 870 has since been replaced by the VAT Act, 2025 (Act 1151), which took effect on January 1, 2026.
Recall that in May 2021, a 1% COVID-19 levy was imposed on the supply of goods and services made in Ghana, as well as on imports, excluding exempt goods and services. But the Value Added Tax Act, 2025 (Act 1151) abolished this 1% COVID-19 levy, lowering the combined rate from about 21.9% to 20%.
The 20% rate is not new; the new element is the Real-Time VAT collection system, not the rate.
The GRA explained that its challenge was compliance. According to the statement, foreign providers were expected to report and remit what they collect, but this was not the case.
Meanwhile, at a tax education forum in May, Sarpong revealed that only about four of the roughly ten business categories the GRA had identified were charging VAT, while six were unregistered, registered but not charging, or charging and keeping the proceeds. He also said the GRA would begin deducting VAT from online payments in August, after a three-month pilot. The start later slipped to October 15.
With the Real-Time VAT framework recently introduced, participating financial institutions act as collection agents, identify the tax on qualifying transactions, and remit it to the GRA. The framework also covers payments made through mobile money accounts and digital wallets.
In Sarpong’s statement during the interview on Joy FM’s Super Morning Show, he explained that the system changes how existing taxes are collected and does not add another 20% to what consumers already pay, because the tax is already built into the price.
He described the mechanism: at the point of payment, the tax portion goes to the Government of Ghana and the rest to the provider. He also said the system will capture mobile and other digital payments, not only bank cards.
While much of the tax rate is not new, the GRA has confirmed it has identified approximately 100 additional non-resident digital service providers that are currently not charging and remitting the applicable taxes. These providers will be progressively brought into the tax net.
Conclusion
The claim that a “new 20% tax” has been imposed on subscription services is misleading. The 20% charge comprises 15% VAT, a 2.5% NHIL imposed in 2013, and a 2.5% GETFund Levy in 2015, all of which apply to digital services from foreign providers. The GRA’s Real-Time VAT system, which started on Oct. 15, 2026, only changed how that tax is collected; it does not create a new tax or raise the rate.
