ITAS Update Regarding PAYE Submissions (ETX Files)

ITAS Update Regarding PAYE Submissions (ETX Files)

The Namibian Institute of Professional Accountants (NIPA) released important communication following a meeting between their Tax Committee and the Department of Inland Revenue (IRD) earlier this week. Based on an update sent to all members on 18 September, we herewith wish to confirm the following.

1. The IRD is considering a potential extension of the 30 September 2020 individual tax return and ITAS incentive deadline. The IRD is committed to announce its decision before the end of the month.
2. It is critical that employers make sure their PAYE4 returns (ETX files) are submitted correctly for the entire 2020 year. It is the employer’s responsibility to make sure the information is complete and correct otherwise individuals will not be able to submit a correct individual tax return.
3. Assuming that the employer has submitted all required information correctly on ITAS, and the employee is still not able to submit because the information on his/her PAYE5 certificate does not correspond to the information populated automatically on the employee’s return of income in ITAS, then the employer should contact the ITAS team in order to get the matter resolved.
4. Employers will probably face the following challenges when attempting to submit and ensure their returns are correct and complete:

• Figures submitted in the PAYE4 returns (ETX files) per the employer’s records do not correspond with what is pulling through to the individual employee’s tax returns.
• The ITAS team is able to extract a report called “employee reconciliation detail” per employee which will show the detail per month based on what was submitted by the employer. You can use this to see which figure and which month is incorrect. Once you know the reason for the difference, you can request the ITAS team to assist in amending the relevant PAYE 4 return’s information.
• The reason for the issue mentioned above is often that the incorrect pension fund or housing allowance number is used. This is either because the number used by the employer is incorrect (in which case the employer must contact the pension fund or Robert Kaveto to get the correct numbers) or the pension fund has not listed the employer and its employees under their number yet. You as employer should make sure the pension fund gets this done!
• The employer still does not have a TIN for some employees because they are no longer employed by the employer etc. If you have been unsuccessful in registering these employees yourself, you have to contact the ITAS team or the IRD officials to assist in having these employee’s traced/registered (this is the only solution).

Below contacts can be contacted for more information and/or assistance.

ITAS team:

Sirkka Masilo (Sirkka.Masilo@mof.gov.na)

Housing and Pension fund numbers:

Robert Kaveto (Robert.Kaveto@mof.gov.na)

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