Sole Proprietorship (registered business name)Ghana
What it takes to form, own and run a sole trader 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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Business Names also known as a sole proprietorship (one-man business) registered by one (1) person who takes all business decisions and all liabilities are unlimited
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Business Names also known as a sole proprietorship (one-man business) registered by one (1) person who takes all business decisions and all liabilities are unlimited
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You must pay Income Tax if you are an employee, a sole proprietor or a person in partnership and you earn income above GH¢ 490 per month.
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
Not in our records A notary, A resident director, Paying up the capital: none of these is in our records for the Sole Proprietorship (registered business name).
Own it
Who may own and run it
- Directors
- Does not apply
- Shareholders
- Does not apply
- Members
- At least 1 · at most 1 · one person may form it alone
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Business Names also known as a sole proprietorship (one-man business) registered by one (1) person who takes all business decisions and all liabilities are unlimited
- A local company secretary
- Does not apply
- A local registered agent
- Not required
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Every person required under this Act to be registered, shall furnish to the Registrar at his office a statement in writing in the prescribed form containing the following particulars
Each year, at the registry
- Annual registry fee
- GHS 70
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Mandatory renewal of registered name each year at a fee of GHS 70
- Accounts on the public record
- Not stated
The registry’s and the law’s own pages do not mention it.
- 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.
- Renew the registered business name each year, GHS 70
- Not in our records
With Office of the Registrar of Companies (ORC)
Not stated on orc.gov.gh/service-business-registration.php when checked
What is public
Not in our records What the register shows the public is not in our records for the Sole Proprietorship (registered business name).
Tax
Tax on profit
How this company type is taxed, which can differ from its place’s headline rate.
Through owners
No separate entity tax: the proprietor is taxed as an individual (Income Tax Act, 2015, Act 896) on income above GH¢ 490 per month, per GRA.
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You must pay Income Tax if you are an employee, a sole proprietor or a person in partnership and you earn income above GH¢ 490 per month.
- CFC rules in Ghana
- Not in our records
Close it
Closing it
The other end, which most guides leave out.
- Route
- Notice of cessation of business to the Registrar within three months after the business has ceased (Act 151).
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within three months after the business has ceased to be carried on, to send by post or deliver to the Registrar a notice stating that that person has ceased to carry on business
- Statutory fee
- Not in our records
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
- Sole traderDerived our grouping, the same words in every country
- Name in law
- Sole Proprietorship (registered business name)
- ISO 20275 code
- 4HD1Secondary GLEIF, Entity Legal Forms code list