Free · GRA-compliant · 2026 tax bands
Ghana PAYE & Net Salary Calculator (2026)
Enter your gross salary to instantly see your SSNIT contribution, PAYE income tax and net take-home pay, using the current Ghana Revenue Authority graduated tax bands.
Updated: new PAYE bands from the Income Tax (Amendment) Act, 2026 (Act 1178), effective 1 September 2026.
Your salary details
Allowances, bonus & tax reliefs (optional)
Your monthly breakdown
- Gross pay
- GH₵0.00
- Employee SSNIT (5.5%)
- GH₵0.00
- Tax reliefs applied
- GH₵0.00
- Taxable income
- GH₵0.00
- PAYE income tax
- GH₵0.00
- Net take-home pay
- GH₵0.00
- Employer SSNIT (13%)
- GH₵0.00
- Total cost to employer
- GH₵0.00
Employer side
Akatua+ automates exactly this: PAYE, SSNIT and payslips for your whole team, every month.
Rates last verified: 11 October 2026. Always confirm current rates with the GRA and SSNIT before making payroll decisions.
Enter your gross monthly salary above to download or email this breakdown.
Stop calculating payroll by hand
Akatua+ runs PAYE, SSNIT and payslips automatically for your whole team. GRA-compliant, every month, in minutes.
What are PAYE and SSNIT in Ghana?
PAYE (Pay As You Earn) is how employees in Ghana pay income tax. Instead of filing and paying tax yourself, your employer deducts it from your salary each month and remits it to the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA). PAYE is not a flat rate. It is charged on your taxable income using graduated bands, so the first slice of your income is tax-free and higher slices are taxed at progressively higher rates, up to 35%.
SSNIT is Ghana's state pension scheme. Every month, 5.5% of your basic salary is deducted as your contribution and your employer adds another 13% on top, for a total of 18.5%. Your SSNIT deduction is taken off before tax, which reduces the income PAYE is calculated on. To see the full employee and employer split, including how much goes to SSNIT and Tier 2, use the SSNIT contribution calculator.
Your net salary (take-home pay) is simply gross salary minus employee SSNIT minus PAYE. This income tax calculator for Ghana does the whole chain for you. If you run payroll for a team, Akatua+ automates it end to end.
Worked example: GH₵5,000.00 gross salary
- Gross monthly salary
- GH₵5,000.00
- Employee SSNIT (5.5%)
- − GH₵275.00
- Taxable income
- GH₵4,725.00
- PAYE (graduated bands)
- − GH₵785.75
- Net take-home pay
- GH₵3,939.25
The employer adds SSNIT of GH₵650.00 (13%), so the true monthly cost of this employee is GH₵5,650.00.
Ghana PAYE tax bands (2026, resident individuals)
| Chargeable income (monthly) | Rate | Tax on band |
|---|---|---|
| First GH₵588.00 | 0% | GH₵0.00 |
| Next GH₵80.00 (to GH₵668.00) | 5% | GH₵4.00 |
| Next GH₵100.00 (to GH₵768.00) | 10% | GH₵10.00 |
| Next GH₵2,900.00 (to GH₵3,668.00) | 17.5% | GH₵507.50 |
| Next GH₵16,000.00 (to GH₵19,668.00) | 25% | GH₵4,000.00 |
| Next GH₵30,332.00 (to GH₵50,000.00) | 30% | GH₵9,099.60 |
| Exceeding GH₵50,000.00 | 35% | n/a |
These bands were introduced by the Income Tax (Amendment) Act, 2026 (Act 1178) and apply from 1 September 2026. Annual bands are the monthly figures × 12. Rates are set by Parliament and can change during the year, so always confirm against the GRA's current schedule.
Frequently asked questions
How is PAYE calculated in Ghana?
PAYE (Pay As You Earn) is calculated on your taxable income: gross salary minus your 5.5% employee SSNIT contribution and any personal tax reliefs. The result is taxed using the GRA's graduated bands. Since 1 September 2026 the first GHS 588 per month is tax-free, then successive slices are taxed at 5%, 10%, 17.5%, 25%, 30% and 35%. Your employer deducts the total from your salary and pays it to the Ghana Revenue Authority on your behalf by the 15th of the following month.
Did Ghana's PAYE rates change in 2026?
Yes. The Income Tax (Amendment) Act, 2026 (Act 1178) revised the graduated bands with effect from 1 September 2026. The tax-free threshold rose from GHS 490 to GHS 588 per month (GHS 5,880 to GHS 7,056 a year), which takes minimum wage earners out of the tax net. However, the 17.5% and 30% bands were narrowed at the same time, so the change is not a tax cut for everyone: earners below roughly GHS 3,880 gross a month pay less, while those above it pay around GHS 6 more a month. The GRA confirmed that no retroactive adjustment is needed for July or August 2026 payroll. This calculator already uses the new bands.
What is the SSNIT contribution rate?
Total pension contributions are 18.5% of basic salary: employees contribute 5.5% (deducted from salary) and employers add 13% on top. Of that 18.5%, 13.5% goes to SSNIT (Tier 1) and 5% goes to a privately-managed Tier 2 occupational pension scheme.
How do I calculate net salary in Ghana?
Take gross salary, subtract the 5.5% employee SSNIT contribution, subtract any tax reliefs to get taxable income, apply the GRA's graduated PAYE bands to get income tax, then subtract both SSNIT and PAYE from gross pay: net salary = gross − employee SSNIT − PAYE. The net salary calculator on this page does all of this instantly, including allowances, bonuses and reliefs.
Is this calculator GRA-compliant?
The calculator uses the Ghana Revenue Authority's published graduated tax bands for resident individuals, currently those introduced by the Income Tax (Amendment) Act, 2026 (Act 1178) with effect from 1 September 2026, together with the statutory SSNIT rates and the GHS 69,000 monthly maximum insurable earnings cap. The date the rates were last verified is shown on the page. Parliament can amend rates during the year, so for official assessments always confirm with the GRA. If you want payroll that stays compliant automatically, that is exactly what Akatua+ does.
What's the difference between Tier 1 and Tier 2 SSNIT?
Ghana runs a three-tier pension system. Tier 1 (13.5% of basic salary) is the mandatory state pension managed by SSNIT and pays a monthly pension at retirement. Tier 2 (5%) is also mandatory but privately managed by licensed trustees, and pays a lump sum. Tier 3 is a voluntary provident fund with tax incentives. Employers must register for and remit Tier 1 and Tier 2 separately every month.
This tool is for guidance only and is not tax advice. Figures are estimates based on published GRA and SSNIT rates; always confirm official assessments with the Ghana Revenue Authority.