Staff Reporter
THE Minister of Finance and Public Enterprises, Iipumbu Shiimi, during the tabling of the mid-term budget today, announced that the tax amnesty programme, which is due to expire this Thursday, 31 October 2024, has been extended until 31 October 2026.
Shiimi said that this decision follows numerous requests for an extension from various sectors.
“In line with our commitment to strike a balance between collecting revenue and boosting the investment climate, we hereby extend the tax amnesty programme by another two years until 31 October 2026. The extension has considered the two years of the COVID-19 pandemic, which significantly reduced the income of many taxpayers. The relief value proposition remains unchanged, that is, interest and penalties will be fully written off if outstanding capital is fully settled before 31 October 2026. Again, I would like to reiterate that this is the final extension of this programme, and we urge all concerned taxpayers to participate before the due date,” Shiimi said.
In addition, the finance minister explained that, regarding non-mining corporate tax, the government has reduced the rate to 31% effective from April 2024 and is committed to a further gradual reduction to 28% during FY2026/27.
Shiimi also added that the government has increased the threshold for Income Tax on Individuals to N$100,000 and is committed to further adjusting all tax brackets for inflation creep in the two outer years of the MTEF at a cost of N$712.9 million per annum.
He added that for this financial year, the preliminary revenue outturn at the half-year mark stood at N$45.7 billion, equivalent to 50.5% of the initial projections in the budget.
“At this rate, revenues are some 3.4 percentage points higher than the historical mid-year collection rate. We therefore broadly expect to outperform the initial budget projections… As a result, total revenues are revised upwards by N$1.7 billion to N$92.1 billion. In comparison to the preceding financial year, we expect revenues to post a growth of 13.1% year-on-year. The projected increase in revenues for FY2024/25 mirrors above-average year-to-date collections, mainly in the categories of income tax on individuals, corporate tax on both other mining companies and non-mining companies, value-added tax, withholding tax, and stamp duties,” Shiimi said.