SSNIT Tier 1: what you contribute, on what, and what you send each month.
A plain guide for employers running payroll in Ghana — the base the contribution is computed on, the split between you and the employee, and the schedule that comes out of a closed pay run. Tier 2 and Tier 3 are covered separately in the Tier 2 & 3 guide.
Who contributes, and on what
One deduction, two payers, one base. Everything below follows from the base, so it is worth being exact about it.
- Every employer of workers in Ghana.
- You deduct the employee share from pay and add your own share on top. Both are your responsibility to remit — the employee never deals with SSNIT directly.
- The base is basic salary, not gross.
- Allowances, overtime and bonuses do not enter the calculation. Factura computes the contribution on basic salary plus back pay, and on nothing else — the same base the SSF 1st Tier report prints in its Basic column.
- The total is 18.5% of that base.
- 5.5% comes out of the employee's pay, 13% is your cost as employer. The two are then split again: 13.5% goes to SSNIT as Tier 1, and 5% goes to a Tier 2 scheme held by a licensed trustee.
- Tier 1 is capped.
- The Tier 1 amount is limited to 13.5% of SSNIT’s maximum insurable earnings. For 2026 that ceiling is GHS 69,000 a month, so Tier 1 tops out at GHS 9,315 a month. The ceiling is set in each company’s pay-component formula and has to be updated when SSNIT revises it.
The split
The first two rows are what leaves your payroll. The last two are where that same money goes.
| Contribution | Rate | Base | Paid by |
|---|---|---|---|
| Employee share | 5.5% | Basic salary | Deducted from the employee |
| Employer share | 13% | Basic salary | Your cost, on top of pay |
| Total contribution | 18.5% | Basic salary | Remitted by you |
| — of which Tier 1 | 13.5% | Basic salary, capped | To SSNIT |
| — of which Tier 2 | 5% | Basic salary | To a licensed trustee, not SSNIT |
Rates as configured in the pay components of a live Factura company. They match the published 18.5% structure. Where a rate changes, it changes in the component formula and applies from the next run — there is no separate rate table to keep in step.
A worked example
One employee on a basic salary of GHS 2,000 a month. No allowances, because allowances do not affect this.
| Line | Working | Amount (GHS) |
|---|---|---|
| Basic salary | Stated | 2,000.00 |
| Employee share | 2,000 × 5.5% | 110.00 |
| Employer share | 2,000 × 13% | 260.00 |
| Total contribution | 110.00 + 260.00 | 370.00 |
| Tier 1 to SSNIT | 2,000 × 13.5%, under the cap | 270.00 |
| Tier 2 to the trustee | 370.00 − 270.00 | 100.00 |
The two ways of cutting it reconcile: 110 + 260 and 270 + 100 are both 370. That is the check to run on any month you are unsure about, and it is worth running per employee rather than on the payroll total, which is where a single wrong basic hides.
The 5.5% employee share also reduces pay before PAYE is worked out. What that does to tax is set out in the PAYE guide.
What you send, and what is on it
The Tier 1 return is a monthly schedule, one line per employee, listing the basic pay it was computed on and the contribution due.
- SSF 1st Tier.
- Factura's Tier 1 schedule. Per employee: social security number, employee code, name, designation, basic pay for the period, and the Tier 1 contribution. It runs for a chosen pay period and can be narrowed by location, group or department.
- SSF 2nd Tier.
- The same shape for the Tier 2 amount, for the trustee that holds the scheme. Covered in the Tier 2 & 3 guide.
- Social security numbers are part of the return.
- An employee without one cannot appear on a valid schedule, so Factura flags missing numbers before you close, not after you have filed.
- Filing and payment stay with you.
- Factura produces the schedule and the figures behind it. Submitting the return and remitting the money is done by you, through SSNIT's own channels.
How Factura HRMS does this
Tier 1 is not a report that runs afterwards over a spreadsheet. It is computed inside the pay run, per employee, from the same basic pay that produced the payslip.
- The rate lives in a pay componentSSF Employee, SSF Employer and SSF 1st Tier are components with formulas over basic pay. You can see the formula, and so can an auditor.
- It computes per employee, per runEvery employee in the period gets their own figure from their own basic pay, including part-months, back pay and mid-period joiners.
- The payslip and the schedule agree by constructionBoth read the same computed component. There is no second calculation to reconcile against the first.
- The schedule comes out of the closed runClose the period, then produce the SSF 1st Tier schedule in the format the scheme expects. Reopening the period reproduces it.
- You file itFactura does not submit or remit anything on your behalf, and does not connect to SSNIT.
Questions employers ask
Is the contribution on gross pay or basic pay?
Basic pay. Allowances, overtime and bonuses are outside the base. Factura computes it on basic salary plus back pay and nothing else, which is why the SSF 1st Tier schedule prints a Basic column next to the contribution — so the figure can be checked in one glance.
Does Factura submit the return to SSNIT for us?
No. It produces the schedule and the figures behind it. Filing and payment are done by you through SSNIT's own channels. Nothing leaves the system unless you export it.
What happens to an employee with no social security number?
They are flagged before the period closes, not discovered when the return is rejected. Missing numbers and unresolved identifiers are treated as blockers on the run.
Is 18.5% the same as 13.5% plus 5%?
Yes, and it is worth saying plainly because the two framings confuse people. 18.5% is what leaves your payroll, split 13% employer and 5.5% employee. Of that same 18.5%, 13.5% goes to SSNIT as Tier 1 and 5% goes to a Tier 2 scheme with a licensed trustee.
What happens when the rate or the ceiling changes?
The component formula changes and applies from the next run. Closed periods keep the figures they were closed with, so a prior month is never silently restated.
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