The Business and Intellectual Property Authority (BIPA), in consultation with the Ministry of Trade and Industrialization, has extended its annual duty penalty waiver.

Minister Lucia Iipumbu, during her ministerial statement in the National Assembly, announced that the programme that was supposed to end on March 31 will be extended by three more months to June 30.

This programme applies to eligible registered business entities that have accumulated penalties due to not paying their annual duties on time.

Iipumbu stated that a 100% penalty waiver programme is thus only applicable if the business entity has paid its annual duties, the principal amount, in full.

The standard annual duty amount is N$120.

Iipumbu urged all business owners to participate during the extension period, emphasising that her ministry intends to engage with various regions to ensure that businesses in the remote areas are given the opportunity as well.