New KRA app to allow tax payment through M-Pesa
Kenyans on the queue at Kenya Revenue Authority Mombasa head office to file their tax returns on June 28, 2019.
What you need to know:
- Taxpayers have been accessing KRA services through iTax, an online filing system that has been in operation since 2013.
- The nearly Sh13.26 billion growth in tax receipts collected by the Kenya Revenue Authority is the most sluggish in recent years.
Taxpayers will start accessing Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) services via a mobile phone App in the race to bring more people into the tax bracket and curb evasion.
The taxman says it’s M-Service App will allow taxpayers to access services such as registration and verification, filing of returns and payment of tax, in a move meant to boost collections.
Taxpayers have been accessing KRA services through iTax, an online filing system that has been in operation since 2013.
“The system will widen taxpayer reach, increase revenue collection and enhance tax compliance by making tax payment process more convenient,” said KRA Commissioner for Domestic Taxes Elizabeth Meyo. “It will also cut the cost of compliance by removing intermediaries.”
Tax compliance
The new platform now makes it possible for taxpayers to register, pay and file tax returns for monthly rental income (MRI) and for turnover tax (TOT) obligations.
Taxpayers are also able to register for personal identification number (PIN), both Kenyan and alien citizenship as well as perform checks on PIN, payment registration number (PRN), tax compliance certificate (TCC) and confirm identity of KRA staff.
Further, KRA M-Service App allows taxpayers to file nil returns for the following sections; income tax-resident and non-resident, income tax partnership and income tax-company, value added tax (VAT), pay as you earn (PAYE), excise tax and monthly rental income (MRI) among other services.
“KRA M-Service App will expand the tax base by on boarding the informal sector players who cannot use computers,” she said.
Sh1.453 trillion
Official revenue statistics published by Treasury secretary Ukur Yatani in July showed that total tax receipts in the financial year ended June 2020 rose 0.92 percent to Sh1.453 trillion compared with Sh1.440 trillion a year earlier.
The nearly Sh13.26 billion growth in tax receipts collected by the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) is the most sluggish in recent years.
The tax receipts missed the fresh target of Sh1.47 trillion set by Mr Yatani a couple of weeks to the end of fiscal year 2019-20 by Sh12.74 billion.
