THE Namibia Revenue Agency (Namra) has warned unscrupulous individuals who create ghost trading companies to defraud tax, that the law will catch up with them.
According to a statement issued by the agency on Thursday, this follows the arrest of two business people in June 2022 and January 2023 after the conclusion of Namra investigations into the issue.
The agency said this criminal practice takes the form of a missing trader intra-community fraud, resulting in the theft of value-added tax (VAT) from the state by organized criminal groups relying on the abuse of VAT rules for cross-border transactions.
“They fraudulently generate huge amounts of money in unlawful profits by avoiding the payment of VAT or by fraudulently claiming repayments of VAT from the revenue authority,” said the statement issued by Namra chief strategic communications and support engagements Yarukeekuro Ndortokaze.
He said at the moment, N$299 million is linked to the fraudulent deferred import VAT, while the amount for income tax has not been determined yet.
“The accused persons in this case, one of whom runs various companies with his family in northern Namibia, has since been granted bail and released, but several assets have been seized with the intention to have them declared forfeited to state,” said the statement.
Namra reiterated that trade-based money laundering entangles trade facilitation and taxation processes in the country and the agency remains committed to enhancing the enforcement of the applicable laws.
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