Commercial banks in Ghana are from October 15, 2026 mandated to collect a 20% tax on qualifying cross-border digital services.

This tax component is to be effected on music and movie streaming platforms as well as online advertising services offered by Google, Meta, TikTok and LinkedIn.

This means the banks will collect the tax on apps such as Spotify, Netflix, Showmax, Disney+ among others.

The tax also covers Artificial Intelligence tools such as ChatGPT and productivity software which includes Microsoft 365, Adobe, Zoom and Google Workspace. 

This therefore translates into an increase in the cost of subscriptions to these platforms.

The October 15 rollout, however, does not introduce a new tax on digital services but rather it changes the collection mechanism, placing more responsibility on the banks and payment service providers to collect the taxes and pay them to the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA).

The legal framework for this directive is the Value Added Tax Act, 2025 (Act 1151) which took effect on January 1, 2026 and the 20% rate comprises 15% Value Added Tax (VAT), a 2.5% National Health Insurance Levy (NHIL) and a 2.5% Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund) Levy.