Who must file
Every person liable to tax must file a return of income and pay with it. That means companies and close corporations, individuals with business, professional or farming income, and provisional taxpayers. Section 56(4) excuses two groups: a person other than a company with no tax liability for the year, and an employee who was with the same employer all year, whose income was solely remuneration from that employer, and who claims no deduction the employer did not already apply — that person is assessed on the employees' tax certificate the employer files. In practice NamRA still expects salaried people on the register: it asks anyone earning over N$100,000 a year to register and give the employer proof. Rates for individuals, unchanged since 1 March 2024: nothing up to N$100,000; 18% above that to N$150,000; N$9,000 plus 25% to N$350,000; N$59,000 plus 28% to N$550,000; N$115,000 plus 30% to N$850,000; N$205,000 plus 32% to N$1,550,000; N$429,000 plus 37% above that. Non-mining companies pay 30% for years of assessment commencing on or after 1 January 2025. A cut to 28% has been announced but not enacted.
Tax year and deadline
The year of assessment runs 1 March to 28 February for everyone who is not a company; a company uses its own financial year. A salaried individual files by 30 June. A company, and an individual with income from business, a profession or farming, files by the last day of the seventh month after the year end — 30 September for a February year end. Provisional tax runs alongside: the first payment is due within six months of the start of the year of assessment, 30 August for an individual, and the second by the last day of the year, 28 February. A farmer whom the Minister has directed pays once, at year end. Deadlines do move by public notice when ITAS fails: everything due on 30 June 2026 was extended to 31 August 2026.
Filing step by step
- Sign in to the ITAS e-Portal at itas.namra.org.na/e-Portal/login, with your TIN already linked to the account.
- Open the right return. NamRA still names its returns by colour: brown or blue for a salaried individual, yellow for the other individual categories, green for companies and close corporations.
- Namibia is a self-assessment system. Work out your own taxable income and the tax on it using the Schedule 4 rates, and capture it in the return — deductions for an employee are limited to approved pension, provident and retirement annuity contributions and education policy premiums, all three together capped at N$150,000.
- Declare and submit. You can save a part-finished return and come back to it. After submission, watch the status under 'My returns' and the outcome under 'My notification'.
- Pay by EFT, direct deposit, cash or card, using the Taxpayer Reference Number: payment type 1, then the two-digit NamRA office code, then your 8-digit TIN, then the tax type (11 for income tax, 15 for VAT), then a six-digit period — for a final income tax payment the period is the year plus '00', as in 201800. Income tax goes to the General Revenue Account 165001 at the Bank of Namibia, VAT to 165060. NamRA does not accept cheques and will reject them.
Penalties for filing or paying late
If you fail to submit an income tax return for a year of assessment, section 66(1)(a) of the Income Tax Act adds an amount equal to twice the tax chargeable on your taxable income for that year, less any amount already paid when the assessment is issued. Leaving income out of a return, or making an incorrect statement that understates tax, attracts twice the difference in tax (section 66(1)(b) and (c)). The Minister may remit all or part of it, but not where the omission was made with intent to evade tax unless there were extenuating circumstances (section 66(2)). Tax not paid on time carries interest of 20% a year from the day after the due date (section 79(2)).