Facebook To Start Charging Ghanaians 15% VAT And Other Levies For Ads From August

• Meta-owned Facebook will start charging value-added tax for advertisements on its platform in Ghana
• The new tax charges and levies will take effect from August 1, 2023, according to a statement from Meta
• Ghanaians are now expected to provide a VAT Tax Identification Number, which will appear on receipts

Facebook will start charging a 15% value-added tax (VAT) and levies on all its ads on its platform.

These new tax charges will take effect from August 1, 2023.

The levies expected to accompany the VAT are the 2.5% National Health Insurance Levy, the 2.5% GETFund levy, and a 1% COVID Health Recovery Levy.

Facebook’s parent company, Meta, said these changes would apply to advertisers whose "Sold To’" country is Ghana.

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Facebook will now require advertisers to add their VAT and TIN to payment settings.

"If you are registered for VAT and provide your name, address and VAT TIN, your VAT TIN will be displayed on your ads receipts," Meta stated.

It also explained that the VAT and levies will be added for every ad charge whether the ads are for business or not.

In April 2022, the Ghana Revenue Authority announced that it will begin collecting VAT from non-resident companies or persons that conduct business transactions in Ghana.

This was a reaction to the growing use of platforms like Netflix, Amazon, Alibaba and Google in Ghana.

VAT increase in 2023

YEN.com.gh reported that the 2023 budget saw an increase in the VAT rate by 2.5%.

This was part of the government's attempt to climb out of the economic crisis.

The government also said the increase in the VAT would support the construction of roads in the country and the digitalisation agenda.

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Sanctions over VAT compliance

In October 2022, the Ghana Revenue Authority shut down the China Mall for not complying with the e-invoicing system for VAT.

Four branches of the China Mall were shut down because of these issues.

The authority was working to get all businesses to migrate to the e-invoicing system, which allows its officials to monitor live transactions.

Source: YEN.com.gh