KRA Whistle Blowing: The Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) will pay whistle-blowers who report tax cheats Sh. 0.5 million. This is the latest incentive by the tax man to whistle-blowers. The KRA has been raising gears in the war against businesses and individuals who breach tax laws in the country.
According to a report that appeared in the Business Daily on Thursday, the Sh. 500,000 reward is contained in the Tax Laws Amendment Bill 2020.
“This provision will only apply where KRA has not awarded the informer for identification of unassessed duties taxes or recovery of unassessed duties or taxes,” the daily quotes tax experts at consultancy and audit firm KPMG in their assessment of the Tax Laws (Amendment) Bill currently before the National Assembly. “The proposed amendment will provide an additional incentive for persons to provide information to KRA on tax defaulters.”
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Currently, KRA is required to pay informants five percent of the recovered unassessed taxes or a maximum of Sh. 2 million following a tip. “Whistleblowers who help KRA identify unassessed taxes or duties take home one percentage of the value or a maximum of Sh. 100, 000. Faced with the huge task of improving revenue collection, KRA has set its sights on suspected tax cheats and tax avoiders following an order from President Uhuru Kenyatta in November 2018,” the report in the Business Daily says.
The KRA has been spying on Kenyans using bank statements, import records, motor vehicle registration details, electricity and power bills to smoke out tax cheats and evaders. The taxman has also been at loggerheads with some of Kenya’s top businessmen and companies.
In early March this year, the Kenya Revenue Authority won a tax dispute against Keroche Breweries. The taxman won in the six (6) Appeals filed by Keroche before the Tax Appeals Tribunal in 2015 and 2017 respectively. The win allowed KRA to collect over Sh. 9 billion from Keroche. KRA Whistle Blowing.