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KRA nets Sh2bn in first month of longer amnesty
Kenyans queue to file their Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) returns at the outdoor-set temporary office at Masaai Market ground in Nakuru Town on June 11, 2024.
The Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) has collected Sh2 billion in the first month of an extended tax amnesty programme, representing 6.7 percent of the total targeted amount.
The taxman hopes to mop–up Sh30 billion from accumulated penalties and interest for companies and individuals under a new phase of a tax pardon that runs until June 2025.
“I should tell you that we have actually collected. It is something around Sh1.9 billion or Sh2 billion already this January and I want to urge Kenyans to please take advantage of the programme,” said KRA chairman, Ndiritu Muriithi.
The waivers, which kicked off on December 27, 2024, will apply to interest, penalties, or fines on tax debt for periods up to December 31, 2023.
KRA said the Tax Procedures (Amendment) Act, 2024 introduced a tax amnesty on interest, penalties, or fines on tax debt and urged individuals and businesses to take advantage of the waivers.
“The tax amnesty shall be implemented as follows: A person who has paid all the principal taxes that were due by December 31, 2023, will be entitled to automatic waiver of the penalties and interest related to that period and will not be required to make an amnesty application,” the taxman said in a notice earlier this month.
“A person who has not paid all the principal taxes accrued up to December 31, 2023, and is unable to make a one-off payment for the outstanding principal taxes will be required to apply to the commissioner for the amnesty and propose a payment plan for any outstanding principal taxes, which should be paid by June 30, 2025,” it added.
Mr Ndiritu said the taxman would try to maximise collections under the amnesty programme, buoyed by results from past rounds.
“The target is Sh30 billion and this was partially informed by our experience with the earlier amnesty. As the board we are pushing the management telling them that we would like to see as many Kenyans benefit from the amnesty” he said.
The first leg of the tax amnesty programme ran between September 2023 and June 2024 and mobilised Sh50.5 billion, missing the collection target by a marginal Sh500 million. The total amount waived under the first leg of the amnesty programme was Sh200 billion.
The government through the Finance Act 2023 offered the pardon to taxpayers with accrued penalties and interest which applied automatically for those who had cleared all the debts for the period that ended December 2022. Those with arrears were required to apply.
More than 1.06 million (1,064,667) businesses and individuals with principal taxes in arrears amounting to Sh54.50 billion applied for forgiveness during the initial window between September 2023 and June 2024, KRA documents show.
