In comparison to a target of six million taxpayers, the KRA data released on Thursday reveals that more than 4.4 million taxpayers have filed returns by June 20.
According to the taxman, it has been processing more than 120,000 submissions each day and anticipates that number to rise to 500,000 as the deadline draws near.
“Returns from 4.41 million taxpayers had been submitted, up 15% from the same time in 2022. This includes resident and non-resident taxpayers as well as individual and non-person taxpayers, the taxman said on Thursday.
The Tax Procedures Act of 2015 gives the KRA the authority to direct employers to withhold penalties and unpaid taxes from employees’ pay.
Individual taxpayers, like employees, are currently subject to a fine of Ksh2,000 or 5% of the annual tax due for the prior year, whichever is higher.
Companies, however, are subject to a fine of either Ksh20,000 or 5% of the tax due in the year the return is intended to capture, whichever is higher.
Tax collectors have recently fallen short of collection goals due to tax evaders and a limited tax bracket that excludes the vast majority of self-employed people and people employed in the unorganized sector.
In spite of President William Ruto’s vigorous efforts to root out tax evaders and increase receipts, KRA missed its revenue collection targets by Ksh27 billion in the three months leading up to December.
In the three months leading up to December, tax revenue from five primary streams—payroll, corporation, VAT, excise, and import duty—amounted to Ksh466.46 billion, falling short of the Ksh493.11 billion objective.
With a collection of Ksh33.10 billion for the quarter, other revenues, comprising investments, penalties, levies, and forfeitures, fell short of their objective by Ksh6.16 billion.
In the current fiscal year, which ends in June, the Treasury intends to raise tax collection by Ksh274.1 billion, or 14.29%, to Ksh2.19 trillion while reducing borrowing.
