WINDHOEK: The Minister of Finance and Public Enterprises, Iipumbu Shiimi has tabled the Income Tax Amendment Act of 2024 in the National Assembly. The Act aims to provide tax relief to individuals and non-mining companies.

The Bill will amend Schedule 4 of the Income Tax Act of 1981 that deals with the tax rates for individuals and non-mining corporates.

When Shiimi tabled the national budget for 2024/25 in February 2024, he announced that it included provisions to provide relief to all taxpayers. This would be achieved by adjusting the tax tables by N.dollars 50 000, resulting in a tax exemption for the first N.dollars 100 000 of income.

‘In other words, the tax threshold is moved from 50 000 to 100 000, so anybody whose income is below that will not be liable for tax,’ he said on Tuesday.

The minister said that the non-mining tax rate will be reduced from 31 per cent in 2024 to 30 per cent the following year to improve competitiveness against other regional economies.

‘We are doing the amendments with
the hope that we are going to inject additional money into the pockets of individuals and companies. But again, the aim is really to kick-start more economic activities so that we can create employment,’ according to Shiimi.

During the session in the National Assembly on Tuesday, Shiimi announced that the tax adjustment would result in an injection of approximately N.dollars 646 million into the pockets of taxpayers.

On average, the adjustment will result in N.dollars 12 000 tax relief per person annually, he added.

However, in order to benefit from the tax relief, the minister urged individuals to ensure that they have filed their tax returns before the deadline, which was 30 June 2024.

Shiimi also urged companies that will benefit from tax reduction to invest in their business growth.

‘I trust that shareholders of companies that are going to benefit from this tax relief will reinvest the tax savings into their businesses, grow the economy and create more employment opportunities especially for our yout
h,’ he said.

Source: The Namibia Press Agency