Ghanaian founders can register a UAE free zone company, but Ghana taxes residents on worldwide income. Here is how residence, UAE corporate tax and Bank of Ghana rules fit together.
A Ghanaian entrepreneur can own and run a company in a UAE free zone. What changes the picture is where you are tax resident, because Ghana taxes its residents on income from everywhere. This article sets out the Ghana Revenue Authority's residence rules, the UAE tax rules, and the Bank of Ghana's position on foreign exchange, so you can decide with the facts in front of you.
The Ghana Revenue Authority's summary of the Income Tax Act says that a resident person's assessable income is that person's worldwide income from all sources, while a non resident is taxed only on income from Ghana. That is why residence is the first thing to settle. Profit from a UAE company that reaches you personally is not automatically outside Ghana's reach if you are resident.
An individual is resident in Ghana if they are present in the country for an aggregate of 183 days or more in any 12 month period. The Act also makes a citizen resident unless the citizen has and lives in a permanent home outside Ghana. A citizen who is temporarily absent for no more than 365 continuous days and has a permanent home in Ghana is also treated as resident.
For a Ghanaian citizen, the 183 day count is therefore not the whole test. Where your permanent home is matters as much as your days. A company can be Ghanaian resident too: the GRA lists the case where the management and control of the company's affairs are exercised in Ghana at any time during the year. If you run a UAE company mostly from Accra, ask a Ghanaian tax adviser how that applies. DBC does not advise on Ghanaian tax.
Because the tests mix days and permanent home, keep a simple travel log from the day you register the company. Dated flight records and a note of where you worked each week are far easier to produce at the time than to rebuild two years later, and they help whichever adviser you use.
The UAE charges corporate tax at 0% on taxable income up to AED 375,000 and 9% on the portion above it. A free zone company that is a Qualifying Free Zone Person can pay 0% on its Qualifying Income. It does not get the 0% band on the first AED 375,000, and it pays 9% on income that is not Qualifying Income. Qualification depends on what the company does, so confirm it before you plan around a 0% rate.
The Bank of Ghana has reminded the public that unlicensed or unauthorised dealings in forex, including the black market, and pricing or receiving payment for goods and services in foreign currency in Ghana, are strictly prohibited under the Foreign Exchange Act, 2006 (Act 723). The practical lesson is to move money between Ghana and the UAE through licensed banks and licensed money transfer channels, and to keep the invoice, contract or share documents that explain each transfer. Ask your Ghanaian bank what it needs before you send or receive a large amount.
This article has not covered Ghana's limits on the amounts you can send abroad, because we could not verify them from a Bank of Ghana source. Check them with your bank.
DBC packages start from USD 1,948 (AED 7,150) at Ajman Free Zone, with a setup time of 3 to 7 days. Meydan Free Zone, with a Dubai address, starts from USD 5,313 (AED 19,500). Residence visas add to the price. See mydiasporabiz.com/pricing, or use the calculator at mydiasporabiz.com/pricing/calculator.
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