Dvid Ndii vs KRA: Popular economist David Ndii has said that he is willing to deposit a bank guarantee of Sh. 500,000 as a condition to suspend a decision allowing Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) to demand Sh. 2.8 million tax from him.
According to court papers, Ndii said that he is afraid that KRA may collect the tax in dispute despite his filing of an appeal.
KRA issued a notice to Ndii in December 2017 demanding a total of Sh. 11, 395,591 arising from income tax estimated Sh. 8.4 million and another Sh. 2.9 million arising from VAT, triggering a dispute at the tribunal. The income tax dispute was settled in an out-of-court deal while the Sh. 2.9 million VAT claim was later reduced to Sh. 2.8 million. The Tax Appeal Tribunal declared the VAT claim invalid since KRA had used the wrong procedure to notify Dr Ndii of his tax dues.
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KRA appealed against the decision and on March 17, Justice David Majanja overturned the decision, forcing Ndii to head to the Court of Appeal. He also moved back to the High Court seeking the suspension of the decision, pending the determination of his appeal.
“The respondent herein is able and willing to furnish security in form of a bank guarantee of Sh. 500,000, pending appeal as may be directed and has moved to court timeously,” he said in an affidavit.
News about the tax claims by the KRA have been eliciting negative reactions among the public, with people seeing it as a government witch-hunt that is aimed at silencing the vocal economist.
One perception has been that the the tax assessment on the economist was carried out in September 2015 at a time when Ndii had stepped up his criticism of the Jubilee administration and President Uhuru Kenyatta.
