NamRa suspends four over tax refund scam

The Namibia Revenue Agency (NamRa) has suspended four of its employees over a tax refund scheme through which the agency lost at least N$15 million.

Namibian Sun understands the corruption scheme is not limited to its Windhoek office and involves employees throughout the country.

Those suspended include taxation officers and other staffers at various decision-making levels at the agency.

NamRa recently said it was working on unravelling the scam which would take about three months.

Commissioner Sam Shivute yesterday remained tight-lipped when probed about the scam, saying investigations were ongoing.

“We will take three months to determine the extent of this scam and introduce measures to curb these fraudulent refunds. NamRA will provide a progress update on this case by end of June. Kindly bear with us,” he said.

Under the microscope

Apart from the four currently under suspension, 122 taxpayers - all individuals – as well as some tax consultants and NamRa staff members are said to be under the microscope for alleged tax irregularities.

Its head of domestic tax, Idi Itope, last month said the agency was conducting an investigation into the alleged scheme involving approximately N$15 million.

“We want to ringfence all these taxpayers and then conduct investigations to determine how wide this scam is,” he said.

Under the agency’s tax incentive programme, it is stipulated that 70% of interest and 100% of penalties will be waived if taxpayers with tax arrears register on the Integrated Tax Administration System portal and pay off the outstanding capital amount during the first six months, effective 1 June.