Majority Kenyans not tax compliant, PS Kiptoo reveals

Only 8.5 million of 20 million Kenyans registered with the Kenya Revenue Authority PIN numbers are tax compliant, Principal Secretary for the National Treasury and Economic Planning Chris Kiptoo has said.

He said the PIN numbers of 12 million people registered with the taxman were transacting billions worth of business without paying tax, saying the government will not tolerate the trend.

Kiptoo said the PIN numbers of the targeted people has remained dormant for unspecified reasons thus denying the government the much needed revenue to implement flagship development projects.

He was speaking in Eldoret town on Saturday during a one-day stakeholders’ engagement forum that brought together KRA officials and the business community drawn from North Rift.

Also in attendance were the KRA Commissioner General Humphrey Wattanga and the Commissioner for Domestic Taxes, Rispah Simiyu.

The PS argued that it was the duty of every Kenyan to pay tax in a bid to increase tax income for the government programmes to run smoothly for the benefit of the citizens.

Kiptoo said there was no way the government could manage its affairs for the benefit of the people without tax collected from the same citizens since it is their obligation to do so through compliance.

“I want to encourage everyone to be patriotic and pay their correct share of taxes; this will create a fair and competitive business environment, grow our economy and enable us to be self-reliant” he said.

He added: “I do not understand why the majority of Kenyans are reluctant to pay tax and yet when they are called upon to raise money for the construction of churches or schools they just donate money with ease,”

He called on the business community to proactively pay their correct share of taxes and, besides, champion compliance initiatives if they expect the government to provide critical services and development programmes.

Reluctant to pay

In his remarks, the Commissioner General said that KRA has been implementing a more facilitative service focused approach in tax collection as the tax man makes it easy for Kenyans to pay tax.

“We are keen to get honest feedback from the business community to enable us to improve our service offering to taxpayers,” said Wattanga.

Wattanga assured KRA’s commitment to collaborate with stakeholders in implementing compliance support programmes that respond to tax payer’s unique needs.

“I want to appeal to all stakeholders to continue engaging with us, as we work collectively to better serve you. We will enhance our focus on taxpayer’s education and staff integrity,” he added.

He assured KRA’s collaboration to ensure the Tax Amnesty and eTIMS programmes successfully respond to the tax man’s revenue goals.

The business community association through their chairman Jackson Kiprono committed to continuously engage with KRA to resolve various taxation challenges affecting them and also strengthen tax compliance.

Echoing the same comment, Kenya National Chambers of Commerce and Industry President Eric Rutto committed to work with all business associations to advocate for quality policy proposals that will enhance domestic resource mobilization and spur the country’s economic growth.

The KRA is currently conducting country-wide stakeholder engagement forums to enhance tax literacy and promote goodwill for payment of taxes.