The responsibility of public officers under the Income Tax Act

The role of public officer office should be constantly filled and up-to-date.

A public officer must be appointed within one month of commencing business or acquiring an office in Namibia.

If no public officer is appointed, the minister of finance may appoint the managing director, director, any other officer of the company or him-/herself to act as the public officer.

Public officers must be approved by the ministry of finance and should be Namibian residents.

The public officer is the “representative taxpayer”, and therefore any notice served by the minister or the registrar of the special court upon the public officer of a company in his capacity as such shall be deemed to have been served upon the company.

Every public officer will be responsible for all the doings and subject matter of the Income Tax Act pertaining to the taxpayer, and in case of default shall be liable to the penalties provided in respect of defaults by a taxpayer.

Everything the public officer does during their appointment as representative of the company shall be deemed to have been done by the company which he/she represents.

Any tax payable in respect of any assessment made upon a public officer of a company in his capacity as such shall be recoverable from the company of which he is the public officer, as stipulated in Section 87 of the Income Tax Act.

If a company changes public officers or the place for the service or delivery of notices, they must inform and update the minister of finance within 14 days of such changes.

Johan Nel is a partner and director at PwC Namibia. This bi-monthly tax column is published on a Monday in Market Watch.