By:Justicia Shipena
The Namibia Revenue Agency (NamRa) will form an investigation team to assess the legitimacy of zero tax returns submissuions.
In a press release last week, NamRa said the team will be established in July.
The revenue collecting agency said it has observed that some enterprises consistently submit zero-tax returns, implying that no earnings were reported for the relevant tax years.
“Therefore, NamRa is establishing an investigative team as of 1 July 2023 to determine the validity of the submitted zero tax returns,” said NamRa’s Commissioner Sam Shivute.
He said from 2017 to date, 56, 881 individuals and companies submitted 172,021 zero tax returns for income tax, while 16,001 taxpayers submitted 138,245 zero tax returns for value added tax (VAT) for the same time.
Shivute pointed out that NamRarecognises legitimate grounds for filing no tax returns, but added the agency has discovered that certain businesses cheat taxes by filing zero tax returns while they trade and make profits and, in some cases, receiving multi-million-dollar tenders from the government and public enterprises.
The Commissioner went on to say that any enterprise registered for tax purposes who has mistakenly submitted zero tax returns, whether for income tax or VAT, are encouraged to contact NamRa offices around the country to rectify their records.
“Make payments where applicable or make payment arrangements on or before 30 June 2023,”he said.
Shivute went on to say if no revision is made by the taxpayer by the end of next month and an audit establishes that there are amounts owing in respect of the various taxes, NamRA will then invoke the applicable recovery framework.This includes the appointment of third-party agents and litigation.