Workers of various entities, accused of defrauding the Namibia Revenue Agency of N$833 million, will continue bearing the brunt of continued deductions directly from their monthly salaries.
This is revealed in a High Court judgement handed down earlier this month.
This is after eight applicants attempted but failed to persuade the Windhoek High Court to order NamRA to temporarily cease further deductions from their salaries. They also prayed to the court that all deductions by NamRA be paid back to them, pending the determination of the constitutional challenge against certain provisions of the Income Tax Act. “While the court may sympathise or empathise with the applicants for the situation they find themselves, it does not constitute a valid reason in the law to grant the order they seek,” said judge Thomas Masuku before dismissing the application.
He said all the court can do is speed up the hearing of the constitutional challenge so they can know their fate.
In determining the matter, Masuku said the court found itself in a difficult position to grant relief to the tax refund of the fraud-accused. “In the instant case, NamRA is following the provisions of the Act, which have not yet been held to be unconstitutional. For that reason, the applicants are not entitled to an interim interdict, the effect of which is to stop NamRA from following the provision of legislation that is binding,” he ruled.
He further said because NamRA was following the Act, which remains binding and enforceable, “Until set aside, the applicants had failed to establish prima facie right, and such application must be refused”.
The matter was postponed to Thursday for direction in the matter. NamRA has been collecting monies from several employees implicated in the N$833 million tax refund scam.
NamRA claims the employees were issued with refunds by the tax authorities, which are now suspected to be fraudulent.
Nearly 1 168 taxpayers from 40 institutions are implicated in the scam.
Fraud allegations
The first applicant in the matter, Joseph Tuzembeho, allegedly owes NamRA N$1.3 million, while Hebert Tjongarero allegedly owes N$325 246. The third applicant, Vivian Upingasana, was to pay N$160 775, whereas Edward Louis is said to be in the red with N$1.1 million.
Katamundu Kahorongo is said to have fraudulently claimed N$209 102 in tax refunds, while his two co-accused, David Mootu and Wendy Kamuiiri, owe N$366 330 and N$467 025. Fredrik Tjikuzu is alleged to owe N$85 289. According to them, NamRA’s deductions have placed a heavy financial burden on them, such that they have landed in financial distress, unable to keep up with their other obligations to their families and other debtors.
NamRA’s brunt
For months now, the implicated employees have faced mammoth deductions, so much so that they are now on the brink of defaulting on existing financial obligations, including home and car loans.
NamRA, on the other hand, has been firm in its resolve, saying there is nothing strange about their conduct. The revenue agency did not immediately respond to questions yesterday.
However, earlier this year, NamRA spokesperson Yarukeekuro Ndorokaze said the long arm of the law has caught up with those who fraudulently claimed tax refunds.
“NamRA appointed various employers in Namibia to deduct monies from employees’ salaries, who unjustifiably or fraudulently received income tax refunds they could not substantiate,” Ndorokaze said at the time.
Section 91 of the Income Tax Act states that an agent (employers in this case) may be required to make payment of any tax due from any monies, including pensions, salaries, wages or any other remuneration, which may be held by him for or due by him to the person whose agent he has been declared to be. NamRA’s tax investigating process starts with the taxpayer being consulted and requested to submit the supporting or source documents, or proof of expenses claimed. “Failure to submit the requested source or supporting documents concludes that such figure was misrepresented, and hence ab initio nullifies the tax refund.
The refund is revised in terms of section 69 of the Income Tax Act, which will convert it into recoverable tax debt,” the journalist-cum-lawyer added. NamRA does not need permission from anyone to collect what is owed to it on behalf of the State. “NamRA does not need to apply for a court order, as the provisions of the Namibia Revenue Agency Act 2017 (Act No. 12 of 2017) (NamRA Act) and the Income Tax Act (specifically section 91) provide the legal basis for appointing the employers to deduct money from the salaries of the employees to settle their tax debt,” he continued, putting to bed any form of complaints.
Last year, NamRA initially detected a N$15.2 million tax refund scam. The amount later jumped to N$104 million at the turn of 2023. Now, the figure stands at N$833 million.
The tax recovery drive has resulted in the recuperation of around N$20 million.
The illegal payment of tax refunds was perpetrated by an internal criminal cabal.
Those implicated include taxpayers earning income from additional sources, such as farming. So far, 56 criminal cases have been lodged with the Namibian Police.