Ukur Yatani, the Treasury Cabinet Secretary, will unveil tighter tax compliance procedures and legal reforms in order to earn funds to partially fund the Sh3.6 trillion budget for the fiscal year beginning in July.
When he delivers the country’s expenditure plan to the National Assembly this afternoon, Mr Yatani will describe the approach for obtaining an additional Sh210 billion in total income to fund President Uhuru Kenyatta’s final full-year budget.
The budget for the 2021-22 fiscal year is intended to consolidate Mr Kenyatta’s legacy in a difficult economic environment marked by lower corporate and family earnings and uncertainty emanating from the Covid-19 pandemic.
According to the Budget and Appropriations Committee report, the Treasury aims to raise Sh2.04 trillion in total income, compared to Sh1.83 trillion estimated for the current fiscal year ending this month.
Ordinary revenue streams for the Treasury, which include taxes and non-tax sources including court penalties, charges for using government services, rent, and forfeitures, are expected to total Sh1.78 trillion, accounting for 87.10 percent of revenue estimates.
This is Sh202 billion greater than the current fiscal year’s Sh1.57 trillion, with Sh1.27 trillion in collections for the first ten months.
Through its capacity to input financial activities of people and businesses from third parties like as banks and utility suppliers into its Data Warehouse and Business Intelligence (DWBI) systems at the Times Tower headquarters, the KRA is likely to continue targeting tax fraudsters.
Earlier this year, the taxman successfully petitioned the National Assembly’s Finance and National Planning Committee to grant more funding to hire approximately 2,000 officers to enhance its pursuit of high-net-worth tax fraudsters. It’s unclear if the requested monies were allocated by the Treasury.
