Early relief for taxpayers

Finance Minister Ipumbu Shiimi says taxpayers will not have to wait until the end of the tax year to claim over-deducted Pay As You Earn (PAYE). Instead, they will be able to claim their tax refunds as soon as possible during this period.Shiimi made the remarks in the National Assembly this week, noting that the measure aims to provide relief to taxpayers.This follows the earlier announcement made during the national budget presentation that employees earning N$100 000 or less would be exempt from paying PAYE starting as of 1 March. Prior to this development, individuals earning N$50 001 or more were subject to paying taxes.“Since the tax amendments were enacted in the middle of the financial year, the normal course of operation ought to be that employees would wait until the end of the tax year, which runs from 28 February 2025 to 30 June 2025, to claim the PAYE over deducted from the Namibia Revenue Agency (NamRA) when filing their 2024/25 annual tax returns,” Shiimi said.“Nevertheless, cognisant of the urgent need to provide relief to taxpayers and boost domestic demand, the ministry has taken the initiative to institute operational arrangements that will facilitate taxpayers receiving their refunds as soon as possible as opposed to waiting for the period between March-June 2025 under normal circumstances,” he explained.Employers were instructed to ensure that the total amount of employee tax deducted for the 2024/2025 fiscal year is equal to the amount of employee tax due.“With such adjustment, employers will ensure that the total amount of employee’s tax deducted for the 2024/25 year of assessment will be equal to the amount of employees’ tax due as per the new statutory tax rates. This action is legally provided for in paragraph 12A of Schedule 2 to the Income Tax Act, 1981,” he said.Financial responsibilityShiimi noted that under certain circumstances, employers might not be able to pay tax liabilities owed over to employees and said there was no prescribed time for employers to process refunds.“We take note that there could be instances where employers do not have sufficient tax payable liabilities to effect the full PAYE reimbursements to all employees in a single month. As such, we did not prescribe a time period within which employers should process the refunds,” he said.Shiimi implored employers to exercise financial responsibility while effecting tax refunds to employees.“We trust employers will determine the reimbursement period following a comprehensive assessment of their respective monthly cash flows, payroll size and systems, as well as their internal operational and administrative procedures,” Shiimi said.

Early relief for taxpayers

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Republikein 2025-04-30

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Early relief for taxpayers

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