Transfer Pricing Audits in Ghana: Why documentation is now more important than the tax itself

A. Introduction

Transfer pricing has become one of the most consequential areas of tax risk for company/business taxpayers operating in Ghana, particularly multinational enterprise (MNE) groups, companies in the extractive sector, financial institutions, and entities engaged in related-party financing or service arrangements.

While the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) has long possessed statutory authority to adjust non-arm’s-length transactions, recent regulatory developments and audit practices demonstrate a decisive shift. Transfer pricing disputes are increasingly driven not by theoretical pricing debates and counter-arguments, but by the quality, timing, and coherence of documentation.

This paper examines Ghana’s current transfer pricing regime, the audit posture of the GRA, and
the growing reality that contemporaneous documentation is the primary evidentiary foundation
upon which transfer pricing assessments are defended or litigated. It also situates Ghana’s
approach within international best practices, while remaining grounded in domestic law and
administrative realities.

B. Ghana’s legal framework for transfer pricing

The statutory foundation of transfer pricing in Ghana is found principally in:

1. Section 31 and Section 124 of the Income Tax Act, 2015 (Act 896), which require related-
   party transactions to be conducted at arm’s length and empower the Commissioner-
   General to adjust chargeable income where this standard is not met; and
2. The Transfer Pricing Regulations, 2020 (L.I. 2412), which significantly expand
   compliance, reporting, and documentation obligations and repeal the earlier 2012
   regime. L.I. 2412 represents a structural shift in Ghana’s transfer pricing regulation. It
   moves the regime away from a largely reactive adjustment framework toward a
   documentation-driven compliance model, expressly requiring taxpayers to prepare and
   maintain contemporaneous transfer pricing records and to file annual transfer pricing
   returns.

C. The absence of transfer pricing jurisprudence in Ghana: Why it matters

Unlike some jurisdictions with mature transfer pricing litigation histories, there is limited reported Ghanaian case law interpreting transfer pricing adjustments under Act 896, its 2 predecessor legislation or under L.I. 2412. In practice, this means that transfer pricing enforcement in Ghana is shaped primarily by administrative action, rather than judicial precedent. This reality has important implications:

1. Administrative discretion plays a dominant role in assessments;
2. The evidentiary burden effectively shifts to the taxpayer to demonstrate compliance;
   and
3. Contemporaneous documentation becomes the principal safeguard against adverse
   adjustments.

In the absence of settled jurisprudence, documentation operates as the taxpayer’s first and most credible line of defence, particularly where assessments raised under Act 896 are administratively challenged through the objection and appeal mechanisms established under the Revenue Administration Act, 2016 (Act 915), the lex specialis.

D. Contemporaneous documentation under the Transfer Pricing Regs. (L.I. 2412)

Mandatory documentation structure

L.I. 2412 requires taxpayers engaged in controlled transactions to maintain:

1. A Master File, providing an overview of the MNE group’s global business operations,
   transfer pricing policies, and value chain; and
2. A Local File, detailing the Ghanaian entity’s specific related-party transactions,
   functional analysis, financial data, and economic justification.

Crucially, L.I. 2412 requires that this documentation be contemporaneous i.e. prepared at or around the time the controlled transactions are entered into, not reconstructed after an audit notice has been issued. This approach aligns Ghana with the OECD Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) Action 13 framework, which emphasises transparency, consistency, and contemporaneity in transfer pricing documentation.

E. Why documentation now matters more than the tax itself

1. Documentation as the primary audit gateway
   In current GRA practice, transfer pricing audits increasingly begin and often turn on
   documentation. Where a taxpayer cannot produce coherent contemporaneous records,
   the GRA is more likely to:
   a. Reject the taxpayer’s pricing methodology;
   b. Substitute alternative comparables or methods; and
   c. Raise adjustments with associated penalties and interest.

In such cases, the dispute frequently arises before any detailed debate on numerical pricing outcomes. The absence of documentation itself becomes a compliance failure.

2. Documentation and Administrative Fairness

From an administrative law perspective, documentation serves a dual function. It is not only a compliance obligation, but also a procedural safeguard against arbitrary or disproportionate assessments. Where a taxpayer can demonstrate that pricing decisions were made on a reasonable, informed, and arm’s-length basis at the time of the transaction, it strengthens arguments grounded in:
a. Reasonableness of the assessment;
b. Proper exercise of statutory discretion; and
c. Fairness in penalty imposition.
This dimension is particularly important in Ghana’s system, where disputes are resolved
largely within the administrative framework before any judicial review is contemplated.

F. Common documentation failures observed in Ghanaian audits
In practice, many transfer pricing disputes in Ghana do not arise from aggressive tax planning,
but from structural and procedural weaknesses in documentation. Common issues include:

1. Reliance on group transfer pricing policies prepared offshore without adequate
   localisation for Ghanaian operations;
2. Preparation of local files only after receipt of an audit notice;
3. Inconsistencies between transfer pricing returns, financial statements, and tax
   computations;
4. Superficial functional analyses that fail to reflect the actual risks and decision-making
   authority exercised in Ghana; and
5. Weak support for management fees, technical service charges, and shared service
   allocations.

These weaknesses significantly undermine a taxpayer’s audit posture, even where the
underlying transactions may be commercially reasonable.
G. Sector-specific risk considerations

1. Oil and gas and extractive industries – Companies in the extractive sector face
   heightened scrutiny due to:
   a. High-value intercompany services;
   b. Cost-sharing and joint venture arrangements;
   c. Related-party financing structures; and
   d. Centralized procurement and technical support services.
   In these cases, robust documentation explaining value creation and benefit tests is
   essential.

2. Financial services and regulated entities

Financial institutions often engage in complex related-party transactions involving IT services, risk management, and capital support. Documentation must clearly delineate risk assumptions and controls, particularly where Ghanaian entities are operationally significant.

H. Country-by-country reporting and systemic risk

L.I. 2412 also introduces Country-by-Country (CbC) reporting obligations for qualifying multinational enterprises. While not all Ghanaian taxpayers are directly subject to CbC filing, the availability of such data to the GRA means that local documentation inconsistencies are more easily identified.

In this environment, documentation is no longer a standalone compliance exercise but part of a broader global transparency framework.

I. International Best Practices and Ghana’s Regulatory Direction
Internationally, tax administrations increasingly focus on: a) Contemporaneous documentation;
b) Early risk identification; and c) Penalty regimes linked to documentation failures rather than
pricing variance alone.

Although L.I. 2412 do not establish a formal Advance Pricing Agreement (APA) regime, Ghana’s
The regulatory framework is otherwise fully aligned with global OECD standards, including mandatory CbC reporting and three-tiered documentation. The clear implication for taxpayers is that transfer pricing compliance must be proactive, comprehensive, and defensible from the inception of any controlled arrangement.

J. Conclusion
Transfer pricing audits in Ghana have evolved from retrospective pricing disputes into comprehensive, evidence-based examinations of a taxpayer’s processes, commercial rationale, and contemporaneous documentation. In a jurisdiction where administrative enforcement is robust and judicial precedent is limited, the quality of a taxpayer’s documentation is not merely supportive, it is determinative of the audit’s outcome.

For corporate taxpayers, the imperative is clear – while achieving an arm’s-length result remains the goal, the decisive factor is the ability to demonstrate contemporaneously that pricing decisions were reasonable, compliant, and commercially driven at the time they were made.

For advisors and practitioners, this reality elevates transfer pricing beyond a technical compliance exercise. It must be approached as a continuous discipline of proactive risk management and strategic dispute readiness, integrated from the inception of any related-party arrangement.

• President Commissions 36.5 Million Dollars Hospital In The Tain District
• You Will Not Go Free For Killing An Hard Working MP – Akufo-Addo To MP’s Killer
• I Will Lead You To Victory – Ato Forson Assures NDC Supporters

Visit Our Social Media for More

About Author

hbtvghana

See author's posts