Tax on interest from March

THE Ministry of Finance has announced that tax will be charged on all interest earned on bank accounts and unit trusts from March this year.

A flat rate of ten per cent tax will be charged on a monthly basis.
Until now, only interest exceeding N$500 a year has been taxed.
According to Deputy Permanent Secretary Erika Shifuda, the Income Tax Act was amended early last year and the changes will come into effect on March 1.
In terms of these changes, all Namibian banking institutions and unit trust schemes will be liable to withhold tax on interest earned by clients.
This tax will be payable to the Directorate of Inland Revenue (IRD) within 20 days after the end of the month in which the interest was accrued or received by the recipient.
In effect all asset managers who deal with unit trusts, as well as all Namibian banks, will need to collect the ten per cent tax on interest earned by clients and pass it on to Inland Revenue.
To facilitate this they must all register with the IRD before January 20.
A prescribed application form is being formulated for this purpose as required by section 34D (2) of the amended act, the Ministry statement says.
These application forms will be available from January 12 from Mrs E le Roux at room 516 in the Inland Revenue building.