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GRA to start collecting VAT on foreign digital services through Sentinel on 15 October
The tax authority says the payment-time system adds no new levy, while the Minority earlier raised double-taxation worries.
Reported by Chale News; not yet confirmed by a second outlet.
Sensitive story. Allegations are reported as allegations, not as established fact.
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Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) plans to switch on a collection tool called Sentinel on 15 October 2026, Chale News reported, citing the Ghanaian Times. Tax on overseas online purchases by people in Ghana would then be taken at the moment of payment.
What's disputed / unconfirmed
- Chale News, citing the Ghanaian Times, reported that GRA will activate Sentinel on 15 October 2026 to levy VAT on online services that Ghanaian buyers purchase from foreign sellers.
- Chale News said Sentinel powers what GRA calls Real-Time VAT (RTVAT), under which banks, mobile money operators and payment processors calculate and hold the tax as the buyer pays.
- According to Chale News, the rule bites only when the buyer pays with a Ghanaian-issued card, wallet or mobile money account, the seller is outside the country and the service is delivered online. It names streaming, cloud storage, software subscriptions, gaming and online marketplaces as covered, and says mobile money transfers, utility bills and food are left out.
- Chale News said RTVAT creates no new levy and lifts no existing rate. It added that foreign online providers have been obliged since 2022 to sign up with GRA and add VAT to their Ghanaian sales.
- Chale News, drawing on the Ghanaian Times, said the Value Added Tax Act, 2025 (Act 1151) underpins the arrangement; the Act came into force on 1 January 2026 and ended a 1 percent levy that had applied earlier.
- Chale News put the total charge on such purchases at 20 percent, made up of 15 percent VAT, a 2.5 percent health insurance levy and a 2.5 percent GETFund levy. Its example has a GH₵100 service costing the buyer GH₵120, with the extra GH₵20 kept by the buyer's payment provider, sent on to GRA and confirmed by SMS.
- Chale News reported that buyers need not register for anything or alter how they pay.
- Anthony Sarpong, GRA's Commissioner-General, was quoted by the Ghanaian Times, as relayed by Chale News, as saying that GRA's study of 2025 payments indicates the system might have brought in over GH₵2.5 billion had it operated that year.
- Chale News, relaying the Ghanaian Times, reported that when Parliament approved the arrangement, the Minority worried that people might be taxed twice and that digital subscriptions and online shopping might cost consumers more.
- GRA said, according to Chale News, that VAT follows the place where a service is used rather than the seller's location, so a Ghanaian taxed via RTVAT should not face a second VAT charge from the merchant. It also said free services such as social media and messaging apps fall outside the system, and that anyone wrongly charged can take the matter up with their bank or mobile money provider.
- Chale News noted that the information available sets out no later timetable or further phases for Sentinel.
Why it matters for Ghana
Many Ghanaians pay for streaming, software, cloud storage and online shopping from abroad with cards or mobile money, so the way tax is taken at payment could change what these purchases cost them. GRA says the rate is not rising, while the Minority has questioned the effect on consumers, so the final price effect for households and small businesses is something to watch from 15 October.
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