VAT on a Ghanaian invoice: what has to be on the document

A VAT invoice in Ghana has to carry specific information, and the tax itself is not a single percentage but several levies that stack. Getting the layout right saves arguments with clients and with the Ghana Revenue Authority.

Rates and rules change. Treat what follows as the shape of the problem, and confirm the current figures with the GRA or your accountant before you rely on them.

What has to be on the document

• Your registered business name and address
• Your TIN and your VAT registration number
• A unique invoice number and the date of issue
• The customer’s name and address, and their TIN where they have one
• A description of what was supplied, with quantity and unit price
• The taxable value before tax
• Each levy shown separately, with its rate
• The total payable

The recurring mistake is a single line reading “Tax” with one combined percentage. A customer who can reclaim VAT needs to see the VAT component on its own, because the other levies do not work the same way.

Why there is more than one line

Alongside VAT itself, Ghanaian invoices typically carry the National Health Insurance Levy, the Ghana Education Trust Fund levy, and the COVID-19 Health Recovery Levy. The important structural point is that these are not simply added to the VAT rate and shown as one number: the levies are computed on the taxable value, and VAT is then computed on a base that includes them.

The practical consequence is that adding all the percentages together and applying one rate gives a slightly different answer from doing it properly, and the difference grows with the invoice. On a large supply it is enough to notice.

Where each part goes on the page

Put the line items and the subtotal first, then each levy on its own row, then VAT, then the total. A reader should be able to add the rows visually and arrive at the total. If a deposit has been paid, show it after the total, and finish with the balance due, so the number the client has to act on is the last one they read.

If you are not VAT registered

Do not put a VAT line on the invoice, and do not show a VAT number you do not have. Charging something labelled VAT while unregistered is the kind of error that is difficult to explain later. Invoice the amount, say nothing about VAT, and register when your turnover requires it.

Keep the figures with the document

Whatever the rates were on the day you issued an invoice, that invoice should keep them. When rates change, old documents must still show what was actually charged, so store the computed amounts on the invoice rather than recalculating them from today’s rates every time the document is opened.