Taxes in Kenya: The Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) is introducing new taxes that will see Kenyans pay taxes on meals, airtime, cars and house allowances that you receive from your employer.
According to a report that appeared in the Standard newspaper, the National Treasury has also altered the excise duty rate, which has further pushed up the prices of beer, bottled water, cigarettes and fruit juices.
One of the most affected is Safaricom, which apparently rakes in Sh. 3 billion eveey weekend from foorball gamblers through its M-Pesa platform.
“Mobile transactions – a critical payment platform for gamblers – has already been hit with higher excise duty which saw the cost of sending money increase to 12 per cent from 10 per cent. The duty became applicable on July 1. But with inflationary adjustment of about 5.2 per cent, the Government will now snatch up an estimated 12.7 per cent for every transaction,” says the Standard.
This new move to increase taxes in Kenya will inevitably hit ordinary Kenyans more as they are the ones who frequently use such mobile money transfer services as M-Pesa, Airtel Money and Equitel.
“If you receive airtime that is above Sh. 3,000, that will be taxed,” the Standard quoted a KRA official.
He further said that airtime was one of the key taxable ‘non-cash benefits’”. Should the other non-cash benefits also exceeds Sh. 3,000, they will also attract the taxman’s knife. For vehicles, an employer will pay taxes depending on engine size and value of the car.
However, the use of the vehicle for personal purposes will not be subject to taxation. If you receive per diem above Sh. 2,000, the extra amount is subject to taxation.
