Companies using regular donations to evade paying taxes will soon face the full wrath of the law, Namibia Revenue Authority’s (NamRA) Commissioner Sam Shivute has warned.
Shivute said the crackdown on tax evaders has already started as a strong team of meticulous auditors have started sniffing around delinquent companies.
“Consider this as a warning, because soon our auditing team will be knocking on your doors, we are closely paying attention. It is not logical that you find companies in operation for nearly 30 years, but have not made a single tax contribution claiming they are recording losses. It is the same companies who are paying their employees below taxable average, but then you find them gaining publicity in donation, yet not playing their part,” Shivute said.
In the same vein, the NamRA boss cautioned those forging documents with the aim of evading taxes. Shivute made these remarks at an event organised to recognise complying taxpayers/traders.
Shivute’s cautious sentiments come as he revealed that tax refund fraud cases running into N$136 million have surpassed the 1,000 mark as the Agency continues to close on suspects, in an investigation that began in March 2022.
The Agency further anticipates the fraudulent scheme might reach N$400 million, according to media reports.
At the start of investigations, the amount was just N$15 million.
The Commissioner said there is a need for every eligible taxpayer to play their part in contributing, saying such an exercise capacitates the state, as without such offering, the government will not be able to deliver services to the public and eventually guarantee economic and political stability.
“If you may recall, during Covid-19, the government could not have managed to procure [the] much-needed medical supplies, but it was because of tax collections that boosted the coffers.
Therefore, economic emancipation comes from flowing tax contributions,” he said.
NamRA collected N$57 billion in taxes for the 2022 financial year, surpassing its target of N$53 billion. In the same manner, the Agency advanced N$8.7 billion in refunds. The main tax contributors were international and PAYE at 28%, respectively, followed by VAT at 24%, Corporate Income Tax 14% and others 6%.
In addition, the agency seeks to recoup N$72.92 billion debt in taxes, of which N$16 billion is the initial capital, when the rest is coupled with interest and penalties.
In the same vein NamRA received N$14.1 billion from the Southern African Customs Union (SACU).
The appreciation event was graced by the Agency’s board Chairperson Anna Nakale-Kawana, Ministry of Finance and Public Enterprises’ Deputy Executive Director Oscar Capelao and Eswatini’s Revenue Service Commissioner Brightwell Nkambule.
