External Company (branch of a foreign company)Ghana
What it takes to form, own and run an other legal form in Ghana, and how its profit is taxed. Each figure links to the page it was read from.
This company type
At a glance
The registry’s and the law’s own pages do not mention it.
Quote
Non-resident company which operates through a branch or which has a permanent establishment within Ghana is subject to tax in the same manner as a resident company
Form it
Who registers it
- Registry
- Formed without visiting
- Not stated
The registry’s and the law’s own pages do not mention it.
- Formed online
- Not stated
The registry’s and the law’s own pages do not mention it.
What it takes to form
- A notary
- Required
- A resident director
- Does not apply
- Paying up the capital
- Not in our records
Own it
Who may own and run it
- Directors
- Does not apply
- Shareholders
- Does not apply
- Members
- Does not apply
- A local company secretary
- Not stated
The registry’s and the law’s own pages do not mention it.
- A local registered agent
- Required
Quote
the name and address in Ghana of a person, in this Act referred to as a process agent, authorised by the company to accept service of process and other documents on behalf of the company
Each year, at the registry
- Annual registry fee
- USD 720 (about €630)
Quote
Filing of Group Accounts $720 (Cedi Equivalent)
- Accounts on the public record
- Yes
Quote
An external company shall, once in every year at intervals of not more than fifteen months, make out and deliver to the Registrar for registration, a statement of financial position
- Audit for a small company
- Not stated
The registry’s and the law’s own pages do not mention it.
- Audit
- Not in our records
Important dates
When each obligation falls due, as the authority states it.
Not in our records No dates for the External Company (branch of a foreign company) are in our records.
What is public
- Beneficial owners
- Public
Quote
It applies to a company limited by shares, limited by guarantee, an unlimited company or an external company.
Tax
Tax on profit
How this company type is taxed, which can differ from its place’s headline rate.
Flat · 25%
A non-resident company operating through a branch or permanent establishment in Ghana is taxed in the same manner as a resident company, at the general 25% rate (GRA).
Quote
Non-resident company which operates through a branch or which has a permanent establishment within Ghana is subject to tax in the same manner as a resident company
Work it out on a profit figure: the company’s tax, the owner’s, and what is left.
- CFC rules in Ghana
- Not in our records
Close it
Closing it
The other end, which most guides leave out.
- Route
- Within twenty-eight days after ceasing to have an established place of business in Ghana the external company gives notice of cessation to the Registrar, who registers it, publishes the notice in the Companies Bulletin and strikes the company off the register of external companies (s.340).
Quote
Where an external company ceases to have an established place of business in the Republic, it shall within twenty-eight days after so ceasing, give notice of the cessation to the Registrar in the prescribed form
- Statutory fee
- GHS 800
Quote
Cessation of External Company (Publication) GHS 800.00
Every business in Ghana
VAT
- Standard rate
- 15%
VAT of 15% is charged together with the National Health Insurance Levy of 2.5% and the GETFund Levy of 2.5%, all calculated on the same base, so 20% is added to the price under the Value Added Tax Act, 2025 (Act 1151) in force since 1 January 2026.
Quote
Value Added Tax (VAT) Rate = 15% National Health Insurance Levy (NHIL) = 2.5% Ghana Education Trust Fund Levy (GETFund) = 2.5%
- Other rates
- 0% Locally manufactured sanitary towels
- 0% Locally manufactured textiles, until 31 December 2028
Quote
the supply of locally manufactured textiles will also be subject to a VAT rate of 0% until the 31 st December 2028
- Registration threshold
- GHS 750,000
the authority's threshold for businesses that deal in goods
Quote
The threshold for businesses that deal in goods has been raised from GHS 200,000 to GHS 750,000
- A foreign company
- The same threshold applies
The GHS 750,000 threshold applies to taxable supplies generally, but a non-resident supplier of electronic services for use or enjoyment in Ghana is required to pay VAT and register, and files by the last working day of the month after the return period. The authority's pages read do not state whether a fiscal representative is required.
Quote
Non – Resident persons that provide digital services for use and enjoyment in Ghana are required to pay VAT in accordance with the Value Added Tax Act 2013, Act 870.
- Returns filed
- Monthly
Quote
Taxpayers are to file their returns and make payments by the last working day of each month immediately following the month to which the returns relate.
- Tax authority
- Registration page read 2026-10-22
Payment and banking services
1 service names Ghana on its own list: Stripe. Each provider, and what a listing means.
Reference
Its name and code
- Kind
- Other legal formDerived our grouping, the same words in every country
- Name in law
- External Company (branch of a foreign company)
- ISO 20275 code
- T69ZSecondary GLEIF, Entity Legal Forms code list