The Namibia Revenue Agency (NamRA) has announced that 50,804 taxpayers have been identified as beneficiaries of refunds, totalling N$75.1 million in the current cycle of mass tax refunds.
Included in this amount are refunds below N$3,000, a deliberate step by NamRA to reduce audit backlogs and speed up the refund process.
“The highest refund amount within the group of compliant taxpayers is N$20,828.77, while the lowest is N$100.00. Of the total refunds, N$74,9 million is attributable to Income Tax, and N$259,709.42 pertains to Value Added Tax (VAT).
“While the majority of refunds have been successfully processed, N$61,8 million could not be disbursed due to unresolved taxpayer issues. Specifically, 27,903 taxpayers have outstanding tax returns and 10,172 have no banking details on their profiles. NamRA values the cooperation of all taxpayers throughout this process and remains dedicated to minimizing delays in future refund payments,” NamRA Commissioner, Sam SHIVUTE said this afternoon.
In December 2023, NamRA launched the mass tax refund exercise, aimed at addressing the significant backlog of pending tax refunds. As announced in February 2024, a total of 46,772 individual salaried persons and pensioners benefited from this initiative, with the cumulative value of the successful refunds amounting to N$100.9 million.
“We urge taxpayers to promptly address these outstanding matters to prevent future refund rejections and to facilitate the efficient release of their refunds. However, I would like to clarify that the refunds currently being paid out by NamRA should not be confused with the recent refunds issued to government employees and certain institutions.
“Those refunds resulted from amendments to the Income Tax Act, and, as per standard procedure, employers were required to refund their employees for overpaid Pay-As-YouEarn (PAYE) taxes covering the period from March to September 2024. NamRA, on the other hand, can only issue tax refunds after the end of the financial year, once taxpayers have submitted their tax returns and assessments have been completed. I thought it is important to make this distinction clear to avoid any confusion between the two processes in your reporting,” further explained SHIVUTE.