KRA TAXES: The Kenya Revenue Authority is set to take its tax netting game a notch higher. This follows new revelations that the tax man is set to start monitoring and tracking Kenyans to their lands and homes online.

According to a report that appears in Kenya’s business newspaper, Business Daily, KRA has been directed to utilize the Sh. 3 billion biometric data listing kit that will collect citizens’ details like ear, eye and voice alongside satellite details of their homes to locate and smoke out tax evaders. This direction was issued by President Uhuru Kenyatta on Wednesday.

“The use of technology as an enabler is an immediate necessity and KRA must incorporate cutting edge technology in all aspects of its operations from customer care to detection of tax evasion. Use of big data to detect revenue trends and to detect leakages should be the norm,” said Mr Kenyatta said. “I therefore expect that KRA will leverage the benefits of the soon to be rolled out National Integrated Identity Management System as another tool in their arsenal.”

President Kenyatta also directed the KRA to smoke out wealthy individuals who have been dodging tax.

“High net worth individuals whose lifestyles are not reflective of the taxes that they pay must be compelled to demonstrate their sources of wealth and to contribute their share of taxes accordingly,” said President Kenyatta. A recent report showed how the Kenyan super rich use offshore bank accounts to evade taxes.

“We continue to place heavy duty on taxpayers to comply with the law. However, there is an equal expectation that those charged with the duty of tax collection do not use their positions of influence to engage in extortion or acts of complicity with tax evaders,” said President Kenyatta.

The daily further notes that the country is planning to conduct a fresh mass registration using the National Integrated Identity Management System. This system will be a single source of personal information of all Kenyans and registered foreigners.

“Under the system adults applying for documents such as IDs will be required to provide additional information about their location, including land reference number, plot number or house number. The system will also see the introduction of Global Positioning System (GPS) co-ordinates in the registration of persons, enabling the tracking of citizens’ location via satellite,” it reports.

“Unique personal attributes such as fingerprints, hand and earlobe geometry, retina and iris patterns and voice waves will be kept in the digital database and physical form.”

KRA announced last month that it would mine data from hospital payrolls, the National Construction Authority records and telecoms firms in its ongoing crackdown on tax cheats.

By applying this strategy, KRA anticipates to net an additional 500,000 taxpayers from whom it expects to collect approximately Sh. 60 billion in the current year, Mr Njiraini had earlier said.