How to file nil returns: Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) has released a new digital form that makes it easier to track down people trying to evade taxes by filing ‘Nil’ income tax returns.
The new form — effected through a reconfiguration of the Kenya Revenue Authority’s (KRA) online tax filing platform, iTax — requires filers of nil income tax returns to explicitly declare that they do not have any other source of income.
Information on the document is expected to help the KRA better profile taxpayers in order to fish out evaders.
Kenyan law requires anyone with a personal identification number (PIN) to file a return annually — including a nil return.
Filing zero returns indicate that a taxpayer falls below the taxable income bracket and therefore did not qualify to pay taxes during the reported year.
Genuine Nil filers are allowed under the law to avoid any late or non-filing penalties.
The KRA is now expected verify information provided by the ‘Nil’ through their PIN transactions.
“Non-filers for cases of taxpayers with gainful economic activities are in contravention of the law,” KRA Commissioner for Domestic Taxes Benson Korongo said in a notice.
The KRA in mid-February suspended the processing of filing zero returns for 2017 citing the commencement of works on the iTax platform.
The taxman last Thursday announced that work on the digital form had been completed and that it was ready for use by genuine filers of ‘Nil’ income tax returns.
“The taxpayers filing zero returns genuinely are hereby notified that they can now successfully do so through the iTax system,” the commissioner for domestic taxes said in the notice.
“Taxpayers are further advised to observe timelines and accurate declarations in their returns besides making full payments of any taxes due.”