Tax Amnesty

Tax Amnesty Programme

1. Relief Programme Objectives

• Recover tax arrears
• Increase e-filers
• Offer a relief

2. Summary

The Minister of Finance announced the commencement of a FINAL Tax Relief Programme in Parliament on 24 February 2023. The relief will benefit taxpayers with outstanding tax arrears who file their tax returns electronically on the Integrated Tax Administration System (ITAS) Portal.

The relief is in the form of a 100 percent write off penalties and interest once the capital tax arrears is settled within the programme period. Taxpayers need to login their ITAS Portal Account at https://www.itas.namra.org.na   and register to partake in the Programme.

• Register to partake in the Tax Amnesty

• File returns electronically

• Settle capital amount

• BENEFIT of 100% interest & 100% penalties write off

3. Tax Law - Recovery of Taxes

In terms of the recovery of taxes provisions, as amended, which refer to the payment of outstanding taxes, the tax laws provide for the allocation of such payments in the order shown below. Reference is made to section 31(6) of the Value Added Tax Act and section 81(4) of the Income Tax Act.

Income Tax:

Value Added Tax:

4. ITAS Rules

Based on the provisions of the tax laws, ITAS has been configured to allocate payments starting with the capital amount, followed by interest and then penalties. The programming is designed in a way that ITAS reverses all the interest and penalty balances once the capital is zero and the taxpayer has registered to partake in the Amnesty Programme.

5. Tax Amnesty Registration on ITAS Portal

Registration to partake in the Tax Amnesty programme can only be done on the ITAS Portal.

Taxpayers who do not have any outstanding returns but need to make payments in respect of any outstanding balances are also required to first register for the Amnesty on the Portal.

And

Taxpayers with only penalties on the account need not make any payment but are also required to register to partake in the Tax Amnesty Programme so that such penalties can be automatically reversed.

And

Taxpayers with only interest balances on the account need not make any payment but are also required to register to partake in the Tax Amnesty Programme so that such interest balances can be automatically reversed.

Upon selecting the registration function on the portal, the following amounts will be displayed, and the taxpayers can then complete the process by clicking on “Agree and Register” button.

6. Making Payments

EFT mode of payment is highly recommended – The payment will be allocated as per the Tax Laws and ITAS business rules, in this order: capital, interest then penalties. Again, taxpayers should not pay the interest amount.

Cash mode of payment – The payment will also be allocated in accordance with the Tax Act. Interest write-off

7. Extention Date – 31 October 2026

The following scenarios will occur on ITAS:

• Each tax account with only penalties and no outstanding returns will reflect a zero balance within 24 hours upon registration to partake in the Tax Amnesty programme.
• Each tax account with a debit balance of interest only and not outstanding returns, will reflect a zero balance within 24 hours upon registration to partake in the relief programme
• Each tax account with a debit balance made up of penalties and interest, no outstanding returns, will reflect a zero balance of penalties and a zero balance of interest within 24 hours upon registration to partake in the Tax Amnesty programme, provided the registration is done on or before 31 October 2026.
• All accounts with capital balances need to be cleared first before a taxpayer benefits from the Tax Amnesty programme.