The Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) is anticipating to collect approximately Sh50 billion from the tax amnesty programme, which closes June next year.
Cabinet Secretary, National Treasury and Economic Planning, Prof Njuguna Ndung’u said besides being a means of giving back to the society, the Tax Amnesty programme is one of government’s fiscal policy measures aimed at cushioning Kenyans and strengthening economic resilience during the adverse domestic and external headwinds being experienced globally.
The CS said that the Government is cognizant of the current changing environment and will continue to support private businesses’ capacity to adapt through reforms. This will create business value for entrepreneurs to promote economic growth.
“Tax amnesties are projected to bring in additional revenue as taxpayers voluntarily report and pay taxes that may never be collected by the Government. The amnesty programme is expected to improve tax compliance as tax administrations learn from taxpayers’ previous behaviours, thereby allowing them to plan better,” said the CS.
Speaking during the Taxpayers’ Month Launch, KRA Commissioner General Humphrey Wattanga said, KRA has lined up a myriad of activities aimed at giving back to the society and honouring compliant taxpayers.
“In the spirit of giving back to taxpayers, we are calling on those who have accrued interests up to December 2022 to take advantage of our Tax Amnesty programme and pay up the principal taxes due, so that we can write off the penalties and interests accrued.” Said Wattanga.
He said that KRA is constantly determined to enhance voluntary compliance among taxpayers and urged taxpayers to embrace the programme before it closes in 30th June, 2024.
“All taxpayers are welcome to apply for waiver; for those who did not file their returns and accrued penalties for non-filing, they automatically qualify, and should go ahead and file their returns.”
TECHNOLOGY
The Authority said it has integrated its systems with betting and gaming companies, with the aim of streamlining tax remittances from the sector and scaling up revenue collection.
The programme has enabled KRA to make significant improvements in the sector’s tax administrative processes, with the daily visibility of the firms providing trends that inform compliance measures.
KRA Commissioner General Humphrey Wattanga said that KRA will continue embracing technology in its quest to enhance tax compliance. He said the taxman has embraced a collaborative business model which incorporates taxpayers’ feedback. “Among the technologies that showcase this is the Electronic Tax Invoice Management System (eTIMS), rolled out in February 2023. A total of 95,732 VAT registered taxpayers had onboarded eTIMs by end of FY 2022/23. eTIMS has helped minimise VAT fraud and increased tax revenue,” he said.
