The Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) has registered a 23.9% revenue surge in April when compared to the same period last year as monthly collection continues to rise for the fifth consecutive month.
Commissioner General Githii Mburu says revenue surged to Kshs. 176.7 billion during the month under review compared to Kshs. 144.1 billion collected last year.
The authority had targeted to collect Kshs. 170.2 billion during the month representing a revenue performance of 103.8%.
“The good revenue performance has been enhanced by the sustained implementation of compliance efforts, revenue enhancement initiatives and improved service delivery to taxpayers, which has led to improved voluntary compliance,” said Mburu.
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He went on, “Additionally, the remarkable performance is also attributed to enhanced active surveillance and enforcement, which has been supported by KRA’s investment in technology. This includes integrated scanners, which have improved levels of compliance at the border points by plugging revenue leakage points.”
KRA recorded improved collection in all revenue streams where Customs & Border Control net the taxman Kshs. 54 billion against a target of Kshs. 48.2 billion representing a performance rate of 112.1%.
“Customs & Border Control performance is attributed to the growing number of imports in Kenya. This is an indication of the continuous steadily growing economic recovery in the Manufacturing and Construction Sectors,” Mburu added.
Collection from Domestic Taxes also surged to Kshs. 122.2 billion in April against a target of Kshs. 121.6 billion backed by improvements in Corporation Tax which neted KRA Kshs. 39.9 billion against a target of Kshs. 34.2 billion.
Pay-As-You-Earn (PAYE) registered a growth of 5.3% corresponding with revenues amounting to KShs 37 billion.
On the other hand, Withholding Income Tax surpassed the April 2021 target by KShs 1.5 billion after registering a collection of Kshs 12.1 billion reflecting a growth of 21.4%.
KRA says Excise Domestic Tax also beat April target with a 25.7% growth.
The Excise Domestic Tax collection amounted to Kshs 4.97 billion exceeding the target by Kshs 311 million.
According to the Commissioner General, measures such as tax base expansion, enhancement of debt recovery programme, implementation of post clearance audits, comprehensive audit of all exemptions, enhanced scanning and intelligence led verification of cargo at the ports of entry and internally and reaching out to taxpayers with tax disputes to embrace Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) for faster resolution are expected to further see improved collection going forward.
