Windhoek
New Era was able to secure a complimentary voucher from PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) Namibia to try out TaxTim, their newly launched online digital services that helps people calculate what is owed to Caesar and fill in their tax submission forms.
The system charges between N$350 and N$550, depending on which of the three options are chosen. PwC claims TaxTim is able “to help taxpayers complete their tax returns with confidence”.
New Era simply had to verify this, for in less than two weeks the mandatory Pay-As-You-Earn (PAYE) tax assessment forms must be submitted to Inland Revenue. PwC promises that with TaxTim a user would be able to complete the tax assessment in about 20 minutes, and that TaxTim would be able to automatically calculate all the required totals, do all the complicated tax work and populate the schedules in the tax return automatically.
Starting off is easy once the user gets over the initial technical scare that seems to overwhelm a person when faced with a new digital application or gadget. Which did happen during the review of TaxTim. The initial simple questions helped to determine the correct form required, usually between the brown, blue or pink form. The questions also determine whether or not the user’s salary structure is cost-to-company, the types of allowances, subsidies and benefits received and if the user has additional income, and the type of such additional income. TaxTim then proceeded to ask serious questions, which thankfully came with explanations that really helped in answering truthfully and correctly. The other good feature was that TaxTim is able to tell the user where to look for information. A classic one was the direction message that read something like this: “it is the number on the top right hand corner of your PAYE 5 certificate. Usually it starts with a letter…” Not to mention the other pop-up direction that read: “where it says ‘other income.’”
For a task that is usually daunting, filling in the tax assessment form with TaxTim was a fun exercise. It can even be said, with daring gusto, that with TaxTim filling in tax returns can easily be turned into a wholesome family fun affair through which parents also educate their school-going teenagers on their tax responsibilities.
TaxTim’s ability to go back to previous questions, to either correct or add information discovered later in the process, is also a bonus. Not to mention the ‘save memory’ function that allows the user to fill in the form over a period of time. It is an important feature that gives the user time to search and confirm the amount on a specific receipt, which suddenly TaxTim insists would have to form part of the evidence submitted to the taxman, as did happen during the review.
With TaxTim the user is awash with a sense of confidence of being in charge over own tax affairs, with no third eyes poring over one’s intimate spending habits while judging how little you save or what a peanut is your income.
Granted TaxTim is not the only tax digital application in the market for Namibian taxpayers. There is also the Namtax digital wizard that takes the user through various steps throughout to printing of a returnable form. Admittedly New Era has not fully tested the Namtax wizard. However, from the little engagement with Namtax wizard, TaxTim appeared easy and fun to engage with.