President William Ruto has announced that every Kenyan above the age of 18 years will have to apply and get the KRA Pin and start paying taxes.
“Every Kenyan with an ID should have a PIN number. Technology, and a considerate, fair and professional mobilisation will do the job quite well,” President Ruto said. He was speaking during the Kenya Revenue Authority’s Tax Day.
This announcement is part of a commitment the president has given the Kenya Revenue Authority to raise taxes to Sh. 3 trillion over the next one year, and double it to Sh. 6 trillion over the next five years.
President Ruto said that currently, only 7 million Kenyans hold KRA Pin number in contrast with 30 million Kenyans who transact on mobile.
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“There are only 7 million people with KRA pin numbers. In the same economy, mobile money has 30 million registered customers, transacting billions daily. The fact that this opportunity remains unclear to KRA demonstrates why radical changes are necessary,” said President Ruto.
Ruto lamented that Tanzania and Uganda are collecting have a larger percentage of taxpayers in comparison with Kenya.
“We are selling 2.9 billion stamps for excisable products while our neighbour Tanzania is selling 7.2 billion stamps and Uganda 9 billion stamps,” Ruto said. He asked the KRA to sell between 10 billion and 12 billion stamps annually.
KRA had set its revenue target for the financial year 2021/2022 at Sh. 1.882 trillion.