What import duty actually adds to a used car in Ghana

Every charge below is a percentage of the car's customs value. For a used car that's the CIF value: the Cost of the car, plus Insurance and Freight to the port at Tema or Takoradi. Buy a 2019 RAV4 at a US auction for $11,000, pay $2,300 to ship it and $200 to insure it, and your CIF is roughly $13,500.

But GRA doesn't simply take your auction receipt. Customs values vehicles through ICUMS, the Integrated Customs Management System, which holds reference values by make, model, year and specification, and applies its own allowance for age. If your declared value is lower than GRA's, you are assessed on GRA's figure, and a large gap invites questions about under-declaration.

Duty is calculated on what GRA says the car is worth, not on what you paid for it.

The dollar value is then converted to cedis at the customs exchange rate for that period, which is not necessarily the rate your bank gave you. Two consequences worth knowing: a cheap auction buy doesn't mean cheap duty, and a weaker cedi raises your duty bill even if the car's dollar value hasn't moved at all.

Import duty proper is the first, and usually the biggest, single line. For private passenger cars it has been banded by engine capacity:

Pickups, buses and goods vehicles sit under different tariff lines and can carry different rates, and some special-purpose vehicles have their own treatment. The HS code on the declaration decides which line applies, so check that your clearing agent has classified the vehicle correctly: a pickup declared as a passenger car, or the other way round, changes the bill.

After import duty come the charges that apply to most imports, not just cars. On our illustrative structure:

VAT

15%

Value Added Tax, on the customs value plus import duty.

NHIL

2.5%

National Health Insurance Levy; same base as VAT.

GETFund levy

2.5%

Ghana Education Trust Fund; same base as VAT.

ECOWAS levy

0.5%

On CIF, for imports from outside the ECOWAS region.

AU levy

0.2%

African Union import levy, on CIF.

EXIM levy

0.75%

Funds the Ghana EXIM Bank, on CIF.

Special Import Levy

2%

On CIF (illustrative; the rate has differed by product).

Processing fee

1%

Customs processing and ICUMS charges, on CIF (illustrative).

Exactly which base each levy sits on (whether VAT is charged on a value that already includes NHIL and GETFund, for instance) has changed with successive budgets. Your GRA assessment itemises every line and its base; that document, not a calculator, is the final word.

Not on this list, but very real: shipping line and terminal charges at the port, your clearing agent's fee, transport from Tema, and DVLA registration. They aren't taxes, so the estimator below leaves them out. Budget for them separately.

Enter a CIF value, pick the engine band and the car's age. The breakdown uses the illustrative rates above, and treats VAT, NHIL and GETFund as charged on CIF plus import duty.

If a seller quotes you duty as one round number, ask for the lines. A real assessment has them.

Since the Customs (Amendment) Act, 2020 (Act 1014), two kinds of vehicle generally can't be imported into Ghana:

• Vehicles more than 10 years old, counted from the year of manufacture. Before the Act these paid an overage penalty on top of duty; now they are turned away.
• Salvaged motor vehicles: cars declared a total loss after a crash, flood or fire. In the US these carry a salvage, rebuilt, junk or flood brand on the title.

The Act allows exemptions for some categories (certain specialised and heavy-duty vehicles, for example), so read the exemption list with your agent if you're importing something unusual. For an ordinary family car, treat both rules as absolute.

What it means when you're buying: a car on a Ghanaian lot that is more than ten years old should be home-used, registered here years ago. If someone offers you a "just arrived" 2013 car, ask how it came in.

When you buy an imported car from a dealer, the duty should already be paid and the car cleared. If it isn't, or it was cleared on an under-declared value, the problem doesn't stay with the dealer. DVLA won't register a vehicle without clearance on the system, and GRA can pursue the vehicle for unpaid duty. You'd be the one holding it.

Ask to see these, and match each one to the car's VIN:

1. The customs declaration from ICUMS, with its declaration number and the chassis (VIN) number.
2. The GRA assessment and payment receipt showing duty, taxes and levies paid.
3. The customs release that allowed the car to leave the port.
4. The bill of lading from the shipping line, showing the same VIN.

Photos on WhatsApp are fine for a first look. Before you pay, see them in person, and check the VIN on the paper against the plate on the dashboard and the stamp on the chassis.