The Namibian Minister of Finance submitted the Value-Added Tax (VAT) Amendment Bill and the Income Tax Amendment Bill to the National Assembly on 22 September 2015.
The changes to the VAT Act will become effective from the first day of the month following the month in which the VAT amendment is published.
According to the proposed bill the essential VAT registration threshold will be raised from approx. US$14,398 to US$35,995.
The Commissioner of Inland Revenue may be able cancel the registration of an import VAT account in certain situations. Also, Commissioner of Inland Revenue may ask security or impose additional conditions before allowing the import of goods on an import VAT account.
In the definition of tax debts, the tax due, penalties and interest may also be included.
The corporate tax rate will be reduced to 32% which will become effective for years of assessment beginning on or after 1 January 2015.
The withholding tax rate has been proposed to reduce from 25% to 10% and a withholding tax on interest paid or accrued to non-residents has been introduced at a rate of 10%.
The proposed amendments to the Income Tax Amendments will become effective when the Tax Amendments Act 2015 will be published in the Government Gazette.
