Anthony Kwasi Sarpong
Consumers and businesses in the country will begin paying a 20 percent Value Added Tax (VAT) on qualifying cross-border digital services from today, October 15, 2026, affecting transactions involving platforms such as TikTok, Uber, Bolt and Netflix.
The tax will apply to qualifying digital services, including online entertainment, software subscriptions, cloud computing, digital advertising, gaming, online education and travel bookings.
Commissioner-General of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA), Anthony Kwasi Sarpong, has, however, explained that the measure will not automatically increase the prices of services for which providers are already collecting and remitting VAT.
He said about 92 companies were already remitting the tax, meaning their pricing would not change because of the new implementation.
“This system is not adding another 20% to what we already pay. It is already embedded and consumers are paying, so it’s only a smart way that we want to collect,” he said.
Mr. Sarpong indicated that the GRA had identified about 100 emerging companies that were not yet charging the tax and would gradually bring them into the system as their services were rolled out.
The new arrangement is intended to improve VAT collection from cross-border digital service providers and ensure that qualifying transactions are brought within the country’s tax framework, he asserted.
Apart from TikTok, the affected services include subscriptions to Netflix, Spotify, Disney+, Showmax and beIN Sports; transport and mobility platforms such as Uber and Bolt; and online booking services including Booking.com, Agoda and Hotels.com.
Software and productivity services such as Microsoft products, Adobe, Zoom and Google Workspace are also covered, alongside cloud and hosting services provided by Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud, DigitalOcean and SiteGround.
Digital advertising through Google Ads, Meta Ads, TikTok Ads and LinkedIn, as well as online learning platforms such as Coursera, Udemy and MasterClass, are among the categories listed by service providers as falling within the scope of the tax.
Other services include digital gaming, business communication tools and virtual private network subscriptions such as NordVPN and ExpressVPN.
Mr. Sarpong stressed that the initial rollout covered services rather than physical products purchased from abroad.
He explained that imported goods already attracted applicable taxes, including VAT and customs duties, at the country’s entry points, whether they arrived by air or sea.
The GRA boss indicated that the new measure, therefore, will not affect tangible products during the initial phase, although the government could consider extending the arrangement to goods in the future.
By Ernest Kofi Adu