Namra takeover of tax affairs imminent

The ministry of finance is putting the final building blocks into place for the establishment and operationalisation of its new Namibia Revenue Agency (Namra), while calming fears of possible jobs losses.Finance minister Calle Schlettwein said on Monday Inland Revenue officials, as well as those from customs and excise, who qualify will be transferred to the new agency.The appointment of a commissioner and board of directors to manage the new agency will follow soon, said Schlettwein. “The expression of interest for the appointment of the Namra board of directors is advertised. Next will be the advertisement of the position of the commissioner and subsequently for the senior management of that institution,” he said.A skills audit would also be conducted to ensure the correct candidates are be placed in the correct positions within the newly established agency.“GIZ is providing us with technical and financial support to undertake some of the transitional activities. One of the next set of activities is the undertaking of the human resources skills audit for all staff of the Inland Revenue directorate and customs and excise officials, as well as the related support staff,” Schlettwein said.A team will be visiting various regions to acquaint staff members further on the activities of the agency. “The task team will commence its regional rollout to all staff, starting with the Windhoek-based staff next Tuesday, and with the rollout to other regions and work centres in the ensuing two weeks.”He called for the support of all staff members and said the tax systems still had to function well, as in the new agency is birthed.“This is an important institutional reform which we have all embraced. I call on the support of all the staff in this regard, to ensure that revenue collection, trade facilitation and border control remain robust during the transition period,” Schlettwein said.A total of N$537 million has been set aside to capitalise the new agency. This was announced by deputy finance minister Natangue Iithete during his recent budget motivation for treasury. The budget is for the collection of domestic taxes, duties and fees, as well as trade facilitation and enforcement functions under the country's tax, customs and excise laws.“The expected output from this programme is meeting the public revenue collection targets, the provision of taxpayer and customs and excise services, recovery of outstanding tax debts and the completion of strategic reform initiatives and tax policy proposals,” Ithete said.No official date for the operationalisation of the new agency has been set, but the ministry expects activities to start in 2019.

Namra takeover of tax affairs imminent

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Namibian Sun 2025-09-30

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Namra takeover of tax affairs imminent

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Namibian Sun 2025-09-30

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