Ghana: Mid-year budget review outlines customs, excise, and VAT measures

Ghana’s 2026 mid-year fiscal policy review outlines new tax revenue measures and provides updates on tax initiatives announced in the 2026 budget statement. The measures focus on customs administration, excise duties, VAT reforms, and digital tax compliance.

Customs reforms

The government has presented to Parliament a bill that would introduce measures intended to strengthen revenue mobilization and address abuse of customs suspense regimes. The proposed measures include:

• Introduction of statutory maximum warehousing periods of three months for perishable goods, six months for general goods, and 12 months for raw materials in bonded warehouses
• Restriction of re-warehousing to a maximum of six months
• Mandatory electronic inventory systems for bonded warehouses linked to Customs for real-time monitoring
• Introduction of a first-port duty rule under which duties and taxes on transit goods would be assessed in Ghana when it is the first port of entry
• Mandatory use of a tax identification number (TIN) for import declarations
• Statutory timelines for Customs to process import declarations
• Controls that would prevent importers with outstanding import declaration forms from generating new forms, together with retirement deadlines of 90 days for general goods and 120 days for equipment and capital goods

Free Zone reforms

The government proposes to refocus the Free Zones regime on export-oriented manufacturing through the following measures:

• Restricting the issuance of new Free Zone licenses to manufacturing enterprises
• Requiring imported raw materials to be used within 12 months
• Limiting duty exemptions to qualifying raw materials
• Ensuring duties and taxes are paid on goods entering the domestic market

Downstream petroleum customs controls

Proposed measures to strengthen customs oversight of downstream petroleum operations include:

• Removal of the tax exemption for bunkering services
• Enforcement of statutory bank guarantee requirements for lifting refined petroleum products
• Introduction of an electronic tracking and distribution system for petroleum products transported through approved pipelines

Excise duty reforms

A new Excise Duty Bill has been presented to Parliament that would:

• Repeal the 20% excise duty on locally manufactured fruit juices
• Introduce a hybrid value-based and quantity-based excise system for wines and spirits
• Revise sliding-scale excise duty rates for beer and stout

The bill would also strengthen compliance through:

• Mandatory electronic registration for retailers of excisable products
• A nationwide track-and-trace system for excisable goods
• Penalties for tampering with excise stamps and track-and-trace systems
• Enforcement of existing bank guarantee requirements under the excise regime

VAT administration and digital compliance measures

The government announced plans to:

• Develop VAT regulations in 2027 to support implementation of the Value Added Tax Act, 2026 (Act 1151)
• Fully implement, subject to regulatory approval, a cross-border technology solution to collect VAT from nonresident digital platforms
• Roll out fiscal electronic devices (FEDs) together with a VAT reward scheme following completion of pilot programs

Updates on previously announced tax measures

• The Value Added Tax Act, 2026 (Act 1151), became effective on January 1, 2026.
• The government has completed reviews of the Customs Act and Excise Duty Act and has presented revised bills before Parliament. However, no update was provided regarding the review of the Income Tax Act.
• The government has successfully piloted a cross-border technology solution for collecting VAT from nonresident digital platforms and is seeking regulatory approval for a nationwide rollout.
• The pilot program for FEDs is at an advanced stage, and a nationwide rollout is expected to be coupled with a VAT reward scheme to enhance VAT compliance.
• The government has procured, piloted, and fully deployed the Publican AI Trade Solution to identify customs undervaluation risks in consignments and product categories with elevated revenue risk.

Read a July 2026 report (34 pages) prepared by the KPMG member firm in Ghana