Squeezing tax out of NBC is ‘futile’

PROSECUTING the NBC for not paying employees’ income tax deductions to the State is futile, as the beleaguered broadcaster has neither the money to defend itself nor to pay the outstanding tax, Finance Minister Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila believes.

A clearly frustrated Minister Kuugongelwa-Amadhila on Tuesday night tried to defuse a persistent Tsudao Gurirab of the Congress of Democrats (CoD), who insisted on a plausible reason why Government refuses to act against State-owned enterprises (SOEs) who break the law by not submitting year-end reports and not paying over PAYE deductions.Not paying over PAYE is punishable at N$500 or six months in prison for both private and public entities, according to the Income Tax Act.Deputy Minister Tjekero Tweya first tried to derail Gurirab by demanding evidence of culprit SOEs.’Do you have evidence? If you do, do us a favour and give us the information,’ he said.When this didn’t work, Kuugongelwa-Amadhila intervened. Taking legal action against the NBC would serve no purpose as the corporation simply does not have the money, she maintained.’We will end up having to assist them from the Contingency Fund,’ the Minister said.Kuugongelwa-Amadhila said Government prefers to educate the NBC on ‘good governance’.The NBC owes the Receiver of Revenue N$177 million in tax arrears, as well as about N$20 million in outstanding value-added tax (VAT), a Parliamentary Standing Committee on Public Accounts hearing revealed last year. According to a report by the Ministry of Finance, the NBC has not submitted PAYE since 2003. The Roads Construction Company and Namibia Wildlife Resorts were guilty of the same offence, the Committee heard.jo-mare@namibian.com.na