Namra reports N$90 billion in historic tax debt, urges participation in amnesty programme

The Namibia Revenue Agency (Namra) has reported that taxpayers owe N$90 billion accumulated over the years.

This is two months ahead of the agency’s fifth anniversary.

Namra spokesperson Steven Ndorokaze describes the debt as historic.

Of this amount, between N$17 billion and N$18 billion constitutes capital tax debt, while the remainder comprises interest and penalties.

In a recent interview with Nampa, Ndorokaze noted that despite the substantial amount owed, the agency is confident that a significant portion can be recovered through the government’s tax amnesty programme.

Introduced in 2023 and later extended for a further two years until the end of October, the programme applies provided all relevant parties meet the required conditions.

“The amnesty programme has demonstrated its effectiveness as numerous taxpayers have benefited from it. We encourage taxpayers to seize this opportunity as approximately eight months remain until its conclusion in October,” he said.

“Our objective is to achieve a zero balance regarding tax revenue owed. While this may not be entirely attainable, we urge taxpayers to strive for that goal as closely as possible.”

Ndorokaze added that by the end of the last financial year, the agency had collected nearly N$3 billion through the tax amnesty programme.

He emphasised that the policy allows taxpayers to settle capital tax debt, while interest and penalties are waived. If the amnesty proves successful, Namra anticipates collecting between N$17 billion and N$18 billion, with the remaining N$70 billion to be waived under the programme.

Furthermore, Ndorokaze said that during the first collection period from 2021 to 2022, the agency’s target was N$49.5 billion, and by the end of that financial year, it had collected N$52.9 billion, surpassing the target by N$3.5 billion.

“In the last financial year, our target was approximately N$81 billion, and we collected N$88.6 billion, again exceeding our target by several billion,” he said.

He also highlighted that over the past four years, the agency has recorded a cumulative increase in revenue collection of approximately 67%, progressing from 40% to 80%.

“This reflects a significant upward trend in state revenue collection,” he concluded.

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