Namibia, Republic of

Income tax amendments

The following income tax amendments were announced during the tabling of the national FY2025/26 annual budget. Kindly note that these proposals have not yet been gazetted, and no further details regarding their effective dates have been provided:

• The retirement fund single commutation threshold at retirement is proposed to increase from 50,000 to 375,000 Namibian dollars (NAD).
• An annual benefit limit of NAD 400,000 is proposed for housing allowances.

Furthermore, certain directives were issued guiding the tax treatment of some new, and some longstanding, provisions, namely:

• Subsistence and travel allowances: Practice Note 1 of 2024, effective 9 December 2024, states that a subsistence allowance granted when an employee is required to spend time away from their usual place of work, which does not exceed the amount provided for in the International Civil Service of the United Nations (‘UN rates‘), is, going forward, not taxable / subject to employee taxes. There is also no need to reflect the allowance received on the PAYE5 certificates.
• Tax relief where employees are reimbursed for the actual business-related distance they travelled at a fixed rate / kilometre. Any reimbursement in excess of the ’prescribed rate‘ will be subject to employee taxes. The ’prescribed rates‘ have not been announced yet.