Ghana Exempts Mandatory Gold Sales to the State from VAT

• Ghana has amended its VAT legislation to exempt gold supplied under an agreement requiring large-scale mining companies to sell 30% of their output to the state’s gold-purchase programme. [ecofinagency.com]
• Under the underlying arrangement, participating mining companies must sell 30% of their gold output in doré form to the Ghana Gold Board, with purchases made in Ghanaian cedis using the Bank of Ghana reference rate. [goldbod.gov.gh]
• Mining businesses should ensure that the exemption is limited to qualifying gold transferred under the mandated arrangement and that invoices, quantities and accounting records clearly distinguish these supplies from other domestic or export transactions.

Extended article

Ghana has amended its VAT regime to support a new state gold-purchase arrangement involving the country’s large-scale mining companies.

The VAT amendment exempts the portion of gold production that participating large-scale mining companies are required to supply under the state programme. The measure relates to an agreement under which 30% of qualifying gold output is supplied for Ghana’s national reserve-accumulation strategy. [ecofinagency.com]

The underlying gold-purchase agreement was announced by the Ghana Gold Board in June 2026. Under that arrangement, large-scale mining companies are to sell 30% of their output to the Ghana Gold Board locally in Ghana. The gold is supplied in doré, or raw, form and purchases are made in Ghanaian cedis using the Bank of Ghana reference rate. [goldbod.gov.gh]

The programme took effect on 1 July 2026. The Ghana Gold Board stated that the arrangement replaced an earlier 2022 framework between the Bank of Ghana and the Ghana Chamber of Mines. It forms part of the Ghana Accelerated National Reserve Accumulation Programme. [goldbod.gov.gh]

The VAT amendment removes VAT from the qualifying gold surrendered under this arrangement. This should prevent VAT from becoming a cost or cash-flow burden within the mandatory domestic purchase mechanism. [ecofinagency.com]

The exemption should not automatically be extended to every gold transaction. Mining companies need to distinguish:

• gold supplied under the 30% state-purchase obligation;
• other domestic sales of gold;
• export sales;
• refining or processing services;
• transportation and insurance services; and
• supplies of equipment or other goods connected with mining operations.

Accurate quantity records will be particularly important because only a defined portion of production falls within the state-purchase structure. Businesses should reconcile production data, delivery documentation, assay records, invoices and settlement information.

The invoicing treatment should also reflect the legal basis for the exemption. Where the same mining company makes both exempt and other supplies, its accounting system should use separate tax codes and retain evidence connecting each exempt supply to the qualifying state arrangement.

The Ghana Gold Board states that gold acquired under the programme will be refined locally before being sent to an internationally accredited refinery for final processing and delivery to the Bank of Ghana as part of the country’s reserves. [goldbod.gov.gh]

External links

• Read the Ghana Gold Board announcement on the 30% gold-purchase agreement [goldbod.gov.gh]
• Read the report on Ghana’s VAT and revenue-law amendments [ecofinagency.com]