It has located 2.8 million eligible taxpayers who have penalties and interest.
The KRA has implemented an amnesty scheme that enables taxpayers to request the forgiveness of penalties and interest that have accrued as of December 2022 through the Finance Act 2023.
Through this scheme, taxpayers will only be obligated to pay the tax debt’s principal amount.
Currently in its seventh week, the ongoing tax amnesty program has brought in Sh3.4 billion for the Kenya Revenue Authority.
This is almost 7% of the approximately Sh50 billion planned under the initiative, which started on September 1 and runs through June 30, 2024. Caroline Rotich, chief manager of the domestic taxes division, said during a media round table that more than 17, 000 taxpayers have already registered for tax amnesty and are anticipated to pay Sh10.5 billion.
As we continue to raise taxpayer awareness, we anticipate seeing a significant increase in the number, according to Rotich. The 2.8 million taxpayers who have fines and interest and are eligible for the tax amnesty scheme have been recognized by KRA. KRA will be able to deduct billions in taxes from people thanks to the amnesty program.
The fines and interest associated with that period will automatically be waived for qualified taxpayers, and they won’t need to apply for amnesty. The taxman has advised taxpayers who have active court proceedings and objections to take into account out-of-court agreements with the authority so they can take advantage of the amnesty.
To resolve tax issues outside of the court system, KRA has devised an Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) framework. The taxman said in a statement on Tuesday that it “encourages concerned taxpayers to leverage on this program for faster mutual, objective, and efficient resolution of tax disputes.”
