Keetmanshoop
Residents of the two southern regions have been urged to be compliant citizens and pay their taxes to the government.
The Deputy Director at the Receiver of Revenue in the Ministry of Finance at Keetmanshoop, Richard Mbuende, indicated in an interview with New Era it is of utmost importance that residents pay their dues to government.
He stressed that paying taxes is very important and critical for government to function properly and carry out its duties and mandates.
Mbuende further said the taxes would enable the Receiver of Revenue to meet its revenue collection targets, as failing to do so will put a strain on government resources.
Although individuals and medium and bigger businesses are paying their taxes, there is still a challenge in the two regions, as small businesses and farmers making an income that should be taxed are still lagging behind.
“We still feel strongly that they are not coming to the table, so we encourage them to come and visit our teams,” he stated.
The director, responsible for both Hardap and //Karas regions, thus called on individuals in the two regions to attend the taxpayer education day slated for tomorrow.
The day is aimed at educating taxpayers on the importance of paying tax, encouraging voluntary tax compliance, broadening taxpayers’ understanding of taxation issues and showing the public how to complete their tax returns.
Mbuende says teams from the Receiver of Revenue will be dispatched to different towns in the regions, where they will be situated at malls and other easy-to-access public places in order to assist the public.
“We want the people to value our service. Most of them think of coming to the offices but they don’t get time so we want to bring the service closer to people,” Mbuende told New Era.
He encourages eligible taxpayers to go and make use of the opportunity to learn more, and discuss any problem related to their tax matters, adding that people shouldn’t be afraid to turn up even if they owe the receiver.
With July being the extended month for taxpayers to file their tax returns, Mbuende says it is better to do it earlier than later so that taxpayers in arrears do not end up paying compound tax.
He adds that the tax returns have been simplified to make them easier for taxpayers to complete and should not be a problem when filling in.