Foreign missions in Nairobi have been informed by the government that they should start paying for services.
According to a report that appeared in a local daily, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Diaspora Affairs had already written to all foreign missions and instructed that the government will be charging them for services that don’t fall under the category of taxes.
“Following an inter-ministerial meeting of government agencies, it was reported, discussed and agreed that the hitherto exempted service fee was in fact payable and is not exempted under the Vienna Convention as well as the Host Country Agreements (HCAs) since these are not taxes or levies,” the paper quoted a notice from the Ministry if Foreign Affairs dated November 8 that was sent to the missions.
In the notice, the government stated that it is streamlining its payment system to onboard diplomatic corps on e-citizen platform to allow seamless payment for the services.
However, the paper reported that diplomats are complaining that there is no clarity on the type of services they will pay for. They further say that the government agencies are already indiscriminately demanding pay for services.
“Some officials attached to various diplomatic missions in Nairobi have also taken issue with the taxman’s directive asking them to pay taxes they were initially exempted, for example, duty-free vehicle importation and land rates where their offices are situated,” the paper reported.
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The report added that the diplomats have also raised suspicion on the changes which they see as an attempt by the government to compel them to start paying local taxes.
“For instance, they say, a diplomat serving in Kenya is only allowed a one-off duty-free vehicle importation within the year of arrival as well as the spouse. In the second year, they are required to purchase the vehicles locally and meet the tax obligation,” the report that appeared in the Daily Nation said.