Governor signs new law to curb over-taxation
Laikipia Governor Ndiritu Muriithi. His government will now include over 800 ECDE teachers in its payroll
Traders in Laikipia now have a chance to appeal against unjustifiable taxation by the County Revenue Board.
This follows the signing of The Laikipia County Revenue Administration Act 2021 by Governor Ndiritu Muriithi.
The Act empowers business operators who feel being overtaxed to appeal to the board and if they still felt their grievances were not adequately addressed move to court.
“Where a person considers that he is not liable to taxation under a revenue law or disputes liability for the amount assessed against him or her, he or she may, within fourteen days of the date of service or mailing of the notice of assessment serve on the board a notice of objection setting out the reasons for the objection and all the relevant facts,” it says.
However, if the taxpayer is not satisfied by the board’s decision, he or she may, within 30 days from the date of mailing of the decision, appeal to the High Court.
The governor termed the new development as one of the efforts by the devolved unit to grow its own revenue base while still allowing locals to exercise their democratic right.
The Act has been enacted at a time when a section of the businesspeople have accused the board of imposing hefty taxes to increase revenue collection.
“We were not consulted when the bill was taken for public participation. In my opinion, this Act will not solve the problem of over taxation to the business community since there are no reasons to drag traders to courts when they are laws that recognize alternative ways of resolving such disputes,” posed the
Chairman of Laikipia Chapter of the National Chamber of Commerce and Industry Ndegwa Gitonga.
Mr Gitonga said his office has been receiving numerous complaints from some of its 10,000 members over hidden charges on single business permits.
“The Laikipia Revenue Board has been ignoring our complaints only for the county to come up with a new law which in our view might not adequately address our concerns,” he told the Nation on the telephone.
Revenue collection has been on the rise in the last four years, a development the governor attributes to apt systems of finance management including digitization.
A recent report from the County Department of Finance and Planning indicated that Own Source Revenue (OSR) has grown by 97percent, from Sh385million in the 2016/2017 financial year to Sh759million by end of April of the 2021/2022 financial year.
The governor has attributed the high growth of revenue collection to sealing the loopholes that were being exploited by revenue collection officers to siphon money to own accounts.
“Before we introduced the changes, traders were negotiating with county officers on how much they would pay for single business permits. Other corrupt officers could pocket the collections but we have now standardized the systems to prevent revenue collectors handling hard cash,” said Governor Muriithi.
