Trade verification system to be introduced
By NamRA and Bank of Namibia
It is expected to improve the collection of taxes and levies related to import transactions, thereby reducing tax evasion and reduce import duties and taxes refund claim fraud.
The Namibia Revenue Agency (NamRA) and Bank of Namibia (BoN) are working on introducing a web-based regulatory system to mitigate the illegal outflow of funds from the local economy.The Trade Verification System (TVS) is aimed at reducing illicit financial outflows and will be used as a monitoring capability to reconcile the cross-border transfer of money to the movement of goods into the country.
It will further serve as an electronic export monitoring tool to aid in the repatriation of export proceeds and the detection of misclassification of export proceeds.
With the implementation date predicted for October 2023, traders are informed of the upgrade of the ASYCUDA World System, with the introduction of a field for traders to report the trade transactions in foreign currency.
Secondly, traders will be required to insert an invoice number on NamRA clearance, SAD500 form which will enable the TVS system to match the goods declared at customs against payment made at a commercial bank.
Lastly, for the ease of trade facilitation traders will be able to upload trade documents and storage of such on the ASYCUDA system, so that the traders would no longer need to present the same at the commercial banks for payment.
The implementation of TVS amongst others will facilitate the ease of identifying potential perpetrators of illicit outflow by the regulators and provide this intelligence for further investigations and possible conviction as per the various laws.
Moreover, it is expected to improve the collection of taxes and levies related to import transactions, thereby reducing tax evasion and reduce import duties and taxes refund claim fraud, since the system will have data which refund claims may be verified.
“As we continue to enhance our processes and systems, we emphasise that lack of intergrity among some traders negatively impacts society as a whole,” NamRA’s spokesperson Yerukeekuro Ndorokaze said in a statement.