Every Kenyan With An ID Should Be Taxed, President Ruto

The government is now seeking to tax every Kenyan who has attained the legal age and carries a Kenyan identity card.

Speaking during the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) Taxpayers Day, President William Ruto insisted that every Kenyan above 18-years old should have a KRA Pin.

The new move is part of President Ruto’s plan to raise KSh 3 trillion in taxes by the end of the year ending June 2023.

“Every Kenyan with an ID should have a PIN number. Technology, and a considerate, fair and professional mobilisation will do the job quite well,” Ruto said.

As such, the Head of State asked KRA to emulate Safaricom who have managed to register over 30 million customers.

“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. Safaricom, a telco, has registered more people than KRA, a powerful state organisation. It is very clear that the magic lies in technology and strategy, not power and resources,” Ruto said.

Elsewhere, Meta which owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp updated its terms to allow Facebook to share business statistics with tax authorities effective January 3, 2023.

The new update will hand the taxman powers to monitor businesses and make money using the social media platform.

Here, entrepreneurs running their businesses on Facebook will have to consent for sharing of their dealings to a government body.

This includes, advertising contents and all information associated with the publicity on Facebook. This way, Meta insists that the move would assist in a lawful investigation.

The move has been interpreted as a boost for Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) which is targeting KSh 13.9 billion from the Income Tax (Digital Service Tax) over the next three years.

The digital tax was rolled-out in January 3, 2021 in its latest push to bring more taxpayers into its net. KRA was eyeing businesses and persons selling services and goods online.

“The uptake of Digital Service Tax (DST) has been incredibly positive by both resident and non-resident persons operating in the digital market,” KRA said.

All businesses selling services online will be required to pay a flat tax of 1.5 per cent on the value of goods supplied and sold online.

This also includes services offered through digital platforms.