Public Company Limited by SharesGhana
What it takes to form, own and run a public limited company in Ghana, and how its profit is taxed. Each figure links to the page it was read from.
This company type
At a glance
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The liability of members is limited to the amount, if any, unpaid on the shares they hold.
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It is classified as a public company because it may invite the public to subscribe for its shares
The registry’s and the law’s own pages do not mention it.
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Pay Incorporation and filing fee of GHS 585 at the in-house bank.
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
- Yes
What it takes to form
- A notary
- Not required
- A resident director
- Required
- Paying up the capital
- Not in our records
Own it
Who may own and run it
- Directors
- At least 2 · one must live there · individuals only
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A minimum of two directors are required.
- Shareholders
- At least 1 · a company may be one
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It is classified as a public company because it may invite the public to subscribe for its shares
- Members
- At least 1 · one person may form it alone
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One or more persons may form an incorporated company under this Act.
- A local company secretary
- Not required
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The directors shall not appoint a person as a Company Secretary unless that person
- A local registered agent
- Not required
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a registered office and principal place of business in the Republic with a telephone contact, a post office box, private mail bag or digital address of the registered office
Each year, at the registry
- Annual registry fee
- GHS 175
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Mandatory filing of Annual Returns at a fee of GHS 175 together with a financial statement after 18 months of incorporation and subsequently every year.
- Accounts on the public record
- Yes
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The annual return of a public company required by section 126 shall be accompanied by a copy, certified by a director and the Company Secretary to be a true copy, of each statement of financial position
- Audit for a small company
- Not required
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which provides relief measures for eligible small-scale companies, including a waiver of full audit requirements in favour of a simplified auditor's review report.
- Audit
- Annual financial statements go to members with the auditors' report (Act 992 s.128); a consent letter from a chartered accountant is lodged at incorporation.
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Mandatory filing of Annual Returns at a fee of GHS 175 together with a financial statement after 18 months of incorporation and subsequently every year.
Important dates
When each obligation falls due, as the authority states it.
Not in our records No dates for the Public Company Limited by Shares are in our records.
What is public
- Directors
- Public
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be open to the inspection of a member of the company without charge and any other person on payment of a prescribed fee, for each inspection.
- Shareholders
- Public
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be open to the inspection of a member of the company without charge and any other person on payment of a prescribed fee, for each inspection.
- Beneficial owners
- Public
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be open to the inspection of a member of the company without charge and any other person on payment of a prescribed fee, for each inspection.
Tax
Tax on profit
How this company type is taxed, which can differ from its place’s headline rate.
Flat · 25%
General Corporate Income Tax rate of 25%; other rates apply by industry and location (GRA).
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The general Corporate Income Tax rate is 25%.
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
- Private liquidation: the company resolves by special resolution to be wound up after a director's affidavit of solvency, and sends the resolution to the Registrar within fourteen days (s.276); or official liquidation under the Bodies Corporate (Official Liquidations) Act 1963 (s.274). When the winding up is complete the Registrar strikes the company off the register and the company is dissolved on publication in the Companies Bulletin (s.288); the Registrar may also strike off a company that is not carrying on business (s.289).
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The winding up of a company may be (a) by an official liquidation in accordance with the Bodies Corporate (Official Liquidations) Act, 1963 (Act 180), or (b) by a private liquidation in accordance with this Part.
- Statutory fee
- GHS 500
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Publication of Dissolution of Companies in the Companies Bulletin GHS 500.00
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.
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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
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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
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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.
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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
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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
- Public limited companyDerived our grouping, the same words in every country
- Name in law
- Public Company Limited by Shares
- ISO 20275 code
- VBJWSecondary GLEIF, Entity Legal Forms code list