Since 2025 the Ghana Revenue Authority has been asking small traders for one number it never asked for before: how much did you sell this year? This page says what the scheme is, in plain words, what you need to keep, and how the payment works. It is not tax advice; every rule below links to GRA's own page.
First written 18 September 2026; updated 7 October 2026 for the Income Tax (Amendment) Act 2026 (Act 1178). Check gra.gov.gh for changes.
Figures from news reports of Act 1178 and GRA's 24 Sep 2026 notice; confirm on gra.gov.gh before you file.
The two numbers that decide your band, the date the simplified return is due, and the short code you pay on. Everything else on this page explains those four things.
The Modified Taxation Scheme is GRA's simplified route for small and informal businesses: shops, market traders, artisans, drivers, food sellers. Instead of full accounts, you register with your Ghana Card, keep a simple daily record, and file a simplified return declaring your actual sales for the year, by 30 April. GRA staff have been taking the scheme to the markets themselves (Abeka-Lapaz traders were visited in December 2025), so it is being enforced from the market side, not only from the office.
Your band depends on your annual sales, which GRA calls turnover. From GRA's scheme page and the guides that summarise it:
| Annual sales (turnover) | Band | What you pay |
|---|---|---|
| Up to GH₵ 20,000 | Small (presumptive) | A fixed amount set by GRA for the band, not a percentage. Ask GRA or your association for the current figure. |
| GH₵ 20,001 to GH₵ 750,000 | Modified (turnover based) | 3% of your annual sales. |
| Above GH₵ 750,000 (GRA's own scheme page still says GH₵ 500,000: confirm before you file) | Out of the scheme | Normal income tax on accounts. |
The ceiling was GH₵ 500,000 before the Income Tax (Amendment) Act 2026 (Act 1178), which news reports say raised it to GH₵ 750,000. GRA's own scheme page still said GH₵ 500,000 when we last read it, so confirm with GRA before you file. The tax on a trader who is outside the scheme is the normal income tax on profit; see the income tax bands and calculator.
Two things follow from that table. First, whether you are in the scheme at all depends on one number, your annual sales. Second, at 3%, every GH₵ 100 you cannot prove you did not sell costs you GH₵ 3. A trader whose book is in her head is the trader who pays on a guess.
Add up every day's sales for the year. That is all it is. The problem is not the sum; it is having the days. Three ways traders do it:
| Method | What it takes | Where it breaks |
|---|---|---|
| Exercise book | Write the day's total every evening | Lost book, wet book, missed evenings, credit sales forgotten |
| MoMo statement | Ask MTN or Telecel for the year | Cash sales are not in it; most market sales are cash |
| Say it to your phone | "Sold 3 bowls of waakye, 60 cedis" as it happens | Needs the phone on you; that is all |
CountMy adds the year up for you and puts the line "Total sales in the last 12 months" at the top of the record it sends to your WhatsApp. That line is the number the simplified return asks for.
Say each day's sales, it adds the yearFree. No password, no MoMo PIN, no Ghana Card. Saved on your phone first, with a safety copy kept for you.
The guides to the scheme describe a daily sales book that records sales however they were paid: cash, mobile money, bank, credit. Credit means a sale counts on the day the goods left, not the day you were paid. A book that only has cash gives a year figure that is too low, and "too low" is the one thing you do not want to argue with GRA about.
| Day | Cash | MoMo | Credit | Day total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mon | 240 | 85 | 120 | 445 |
| Tue | 180 | 60 | 0 | 240 |
| Wed (market) | 610 | 130 | 30 | 770 |
Said out loud, each line is one sentence. "Sold rice 240 cash." "MoMo 85." "Ama took 2 bags rice, 120, she will pay Friday." How to keep the credit side straight.
GRA's pages describe payment through the short code. In summary:
Keep the confirmation message. Note that CountMy never asks for your Ghana Card or MoMo PIN; only the MoMo payment prompt on the *880# step does, and that is MTN's or Telecel's screen, not a website.
From 1 January 2026 the VAT registration threshold for goods is reported at GH₵ 750,000 of annual sales (up from GH₵ 200,000). EY (January 2026) says services have no threshold, so a tailor, hairdresser or other service business should ask GRA. Almost every market trader who sells goods is far below it. Being in the Modified Taxation Scheme and charging VAT are different things; most people on this page will never touch VAT.
GRA's simplified income tax route for small and informal businesses, with bands by annual sales, a simplified return by 30 April, and payment through *880#.
Everything you sold in the year, cash, MoMo, bank and credit added together. GRA calls it turnover.
The scheme's lowest band starts at zero; GRA is registering traders in the markets. Ask at the GRA office nearest you or your trade association what applies to your size, and keep your daily record either way so the answer is a number, not a guess.
For goods, only above GH₵ 750,000 of annual sales from 1 January 2026. For services, EY (January 2026) says there is no threshold, so ask GRA.
Your MoMo statement gives the MoMo part. For cash you will estimate, and the estimate is what you will pay on. Start the daily record today so next year is not an estimate.
Sources: GRA, Modified Taxation (FAQ); GRA, Modified Taxation Scheme; TaxLawGH guide (reviewed August 2026); GNA, GRA education at Abeka-Lapaz (December 2025); Ghana Business News, VAT threshold (January 2026). This page is general information, not tax advice.