Trustee Responsibilities and Personal Risk under the New Tax Dispensation
The proposed Tax Administration Bill 2025 introduces clearer and stronger compliance obligations for trustees. Trustees are expressly designated as representative taxpayers of a trust. This makes trustees responsible for:
Where there is more than one trustee, each trustee is jointly and severally liable for the trust’s tax obligations.
In addition, the bill introduces penalties for failure to register or for deliberate non-compliance. These provisions expose trustees to financial penalties and enforcement action where compliance obligations are not met.
The practical message is simple: trustees can no longer view trust tax compliance as an administrative afterthought. Under the new dispensation, personal responsibility for compliance is now explicit in law.
If you serve as a trustee or board of trustees, this is an appropriate time to review your trust’s tax registration, reporting and record-keeping processes in preparation for the new legislation.
Kwape Legal Practice advises on trust governance and compliance alignment under Botswana’s forthcoming tax framework.