The legal framework that governs the boundaries of the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) in terms of how far it should stretch its taxing hand is still shaky. This has created a gray area that is still raising lots of questions, such as recent banking developments that appear to have ‘legalized’ the need to link KRA PIN numbers with bank accounts for tax reasons.
Now, this move is set to take another step after KRA’s plans to target mobile money services to supplement revenue streams for the government’s Big Four Agenda went live a couple of minutes ago.
Should this move be implemented, KRA will go through tons data for near 30 million Kenyans who transact via mobile money services (groups that are eligible to pay tax maybe half as much). The activity is said to augment a similar and incoming process that will match data from financial accounts of key professionals and real estate developers, among other high-value groups to remit their fair share of tax.
This information has been supported by the tax collector as a model that will revamp compliance and ‘audit interventions’ and meet objectivity with taxpayers.
Obviously, the move is bound to be disputed widely, and while we do not have additional details as to what it pertains in fine print, it is apparent that the lucrative nature of mobile money has appealed to KRA that is always on the lookout to optimize its trade.
We will update this post once we get more details.
