Income Tax for Employees

For employment income, there are several ways in which you can be taxed. The first way is if you are an employee and receive fringe benefits as items such as company cars or private health care. This income will be taxed at 15%.

The second way is when you receive a pension or gratuity from your employer upon leaving that job. This will also be taxed at 15%.

The third way is when your employer pays directors’ fees to you as an incentive for working with them, these fees will also be taxed at 15% regardless of whether they are paid by salary or as a bonus payment.

A similar tax also applies on employment termination payments (for example redundancies), redundancy payments (if given due to poor performance) and termination of employment related to insolvency of an entity – all these payments will be subject to tax at 15%.

Income Tax for Employers

• Employers are liable for income tax on salaries, wages and other remuneration paid to employees.
• Employers are also liable for income tax on fringe benefits provided to employees.
• The employer’s taxable income is calculated as the total of all salaries and wages paid to employees

Value Added Tax

VAT is a consumption tax. It is charged on goods and services at each stage of production and distribution. The value-added tax rate in Namibia is 15%. This means that all the stages of production and distribution are subject to VAT, including those from other countries (except imports).

Capital Gains Tax

Capital Gains Tax is a tax on the increase in value of an asset. This can be something like shares, property or land that you sell for more than it was worth when you bought it.

Capital gains tax is paid when you sell an asset for more than it was worth when you bought it. The difference between the sale price and the cost price is called a capital gain or loss and this amount is added to your taxable income (or subtracted from your losses).

Transfer Duty

Transfer duty is a tax payable on the transfer of immovable property in Namibia. The amount of transfer duty that you pay depends on the type of property that you are transferring. For example, if you bought an apartment worth N$1 million and sold it after five years for N$2 million, then you would have to pay about N$4 000 in transfer duty (5% of N$1 000 000).