Kenya’s Tax Compliance Improves As 400,000 More Kenyans File Returns In 2019

More Kenyans filed their returns in 2019 as compared to 2018 with most of the taxpayers filing their returns in advance avoiding the last minute rush, Kenya Revenue Authority has said.

The agency recorded an increase of taxpayers by 400,000 up from 3.2 million who filed during the same period last year; this marks a good trend for the Kenyan tax filing mechanism which has evolved over time.

Deputy Commissioner Marketing and Communication KRA Grace Wandera said that the growth in the numbers shows positive progress in tax compliance from taxpayers a trend which is good for economic growth and self-reliance.

“This year, as the deadline approached, KRA service centres did not experience long queues as have been observed during the previous years,” she said.

The massive improvement was also attributed to the efficiency of the iTax online platform and increased awareness campaign undertaken by the authority.

Before the introduction of the i-Tax system, taxpayers used to submit their taxes online using the downloadable document from the KRA website or through the online portal.

The manual method required taxpayers to pay at the bank and queue at KRA offices to confirm the submission.

These two methods required a back up by a P.A.Y.E. End of Year Return submitted to the relevant Domestic Taxes Office on or before 28TH February of every year. Taxpayers thus developed the last minute rush in filing the returns which were categorized by long queues outside TimesTowers ahead of the deadline.

iTax was then introduced in 2014 to ease the tedious work. It simplifies taxpayers registration and filing of returns from any location.

Failure to submit the annual returns attracts a penalty fee of Ksh 2000 or 5 per cent of tax due while non-individual income taxpayer will be charged Ksh 20,000 or 5 per cent of tax due.

Featured Image Courtesy: Dhahabu Kenya