Beyond the Headline Tax Rate: Measuring Ghanaian Firms’ Effective Tax Burden

Looks beyond statutory rates to distinguish taxes borne by Ghanaian firms from collected taxes, employer contributions, fees and private compliance costs. Selected company accounts and standardised enterprise cases show how measurement choices, margins, tax bases and payment timing change the interpretation of effective burdens.

124 pages · 2.46 MB · English

About this report

Author: Dr. Felix Larry Essilfie
Publisher: Institute of Development and Economic Research (IDER)
Publication date: 27 September 2026
Evidence cut-off: 2026-09-27
Reference period: Accounts: 2024–2025; survey: 2023; standardised enterprises are explicitly assumed.
Series: IDER’s Ghana Macroeconomic Policy and Business Intelligence Briefings

What the report covers

Classification of firm-borne taxes, collected taxes, employer contributions, fees and private costs.
Reconciliation of selected 2024–2025 company accounts alongside historical survey evidence.
Standardised enterprise cases testing scale, margins, tax bases, compliance costs and cash timing.

Read the evidence in context

No national all-in effective tax rate or causal effect is claimed. Standardised enterprises are assumed cases, and the report is not a transaction-specific tax ruling.

The report’s original source definitions, assumptions and limitations govern its interpretation. References to other institutions do not imply their endorsement.

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