KRA gets 40 sleuths to bust tax cheats

Efforts by the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) to fight tax evasion received a boost yesterday when 40 detectives were seconded to the agency to deal with the crime.

Directorate of Criminal Investigations boss George Kinoti (pictured) said the officers would particularly train their guns on wealthy people and businesses that have designed ways to avoid paying taxes.

Lavish lifestyle
He said the officers, trained in financial, fraud, money laundering, tax monitoring, and intelligence gathering, were selected after rigorous interviews.

“This is a great boost to the government’s efforts to fight tax evasion and improve revenue collection,” Kinoti said.

Last year, the taxman said it will go after people who display lavish lifestyles on social media but pay little or no taxes.

KRA Commissioner-General Githii Mburu said his officers were spending time on social media with the intention of investing in people who are posting photos of luxurious cars and throwing expensive parties, to ensure their taxes are in tandem with the image they display online.

The taxman has a team focused on smoking out tax cheats through sites such as Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat.

The tax cheats risk travel bans, collection of duty directly from their suppliers and bankers, and prosecution.

The KRA aims to bring more people into the tax bracket and curb tax cheating and evasion in the quest to meet collection targets.