According to President William Ruto, every Kenyan citizen with a national identity card (ID) will be required to have a Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) pin number.
President Ruto said on Friday at the KRA’s Taxpayers event at the KICC that the directive would help the Authority scale up tax compliance measures in order to increase tax revenue.
He cited Safaricom Telco Company data showing that approximately 30 million people are registered under M-Pesa versus 7 million people who have KRA Pin numbers, claiming that his government would use technology to broaden the tax base and enlist more taxpayers.
“There are only 7 million people with KRA pin numbers. At the same time, in the same economy, Safaricom’s MPESA has 30 million registered customers, transacting billions daily. The fact that this opportunity remains unclear to KRA demonstrates why radical changes are necessary. Every Kenyan with an ID should have a PIN number,” President Ruto stated.
“Technology and a considerate, fair, and professional mobilization will do the job quite well. Safaricom, a telco, has registered more people than KRA, a powerful state organization. It is very clear that the magic lies in technology and strategy, not in power and resources.”
The president reiterated his earlier remarks about reforming the KRA and making it more people-friendly in order to raise the tax bracket.
“We are committed to instituting a comprehensive culture change at the KRA in order to make it much more supportive of taxpayers…make it a people-friendly customer-centric organization that facilitates taxpayer compliance as a co-tax administration strategy,” he said.
“There will be no exemptions. There will be a fair tax regime where everybody is treated equally …I am determined to ensure that our tax system is responsive to the needs of the new era in Kenyan tax administration. I commit to becoming your ambassador by leading Kenyans in paying taxes.”
“No single taxpayer who is eligible should be left out from this obligation because every exemption denies Kenyans the right to benefit from national resources and is unfair to loyal taxpayers who do the right thing,” he added.
As a result, as part of his overall plan to broaden the tax base, the president directed KRA to double its current collection by the end of his first term and to raise Ksh.3 trillion by the end of the fiscal year 2022-2023.
“Our GDP has risen to Ksh.12 trillion, yet KRA only raised about 14% of GDP in revenues last year. In the past, KRA was able to raise 18% of GDP. If we collect the same target today, then we would have raised an extra KShs 400 billion. I expect KRA to raise 3 trillion by the end of the next financial year and to double the current collection in five years,” President Ruto directed.
Present were Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua, Cabinet Secretaries Moses Kuria (Trade), Eliud Owalo (ICT), KRA Commissioner General Sam Mburu and Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja.
Mr. Gachagua stated that tax collectors should not criminalize tax payment but rather carry out their duties with dignity.
“Let’s embrace consultations and engagement when dealing with issues pertaining tax collection,” said Mr Gachagua.
CS Finance Prof Njuguna Ndung’u stated that efforts were being made to ensure that more taxes were collected in order to meet the country’s development needs.
Governor Sakaja stated that all county payments have been digitalized as part of efforts to eradicate corruption.
