Delayed payments by both the national and county governments to contractors are negatively affecting tax remittance in the Western region, George Obell, a commissioner for Micro and small taxpayers at the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) has said.
The Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) is targeting over three million taxpayers in Western Kenya who either fail to file their returns or consistently declare nil returns. The authority says this trend is depriving the government of an estimated Sh2.2 trillion in potential revenue.
The Western region has the second highest number of registered taxpayers after Nairobi, being the reason why Kenya Revenue Authority has decided to intensify compliance enforcement.
Speaking to the press in Bungoma during a meeting of the taxpayer’s roundtable forum, Obell noted that many contractors and suppliers who undertake government projects are unable to meet their tax obligations on time due to prolonged delays in settling pending bills, a situation that has slowed revenue collection in the region.
Further, he urged government agencies to expedite payments to contractors to enable them to remain compliant with tax requirements and sustain business operations.
“The biggest challenge we are having in this region is that many people, especially contractors, are not complying to tax remittance due to delayed payment by the government,” Commissioner Obell stated.
He said that the purpose of meeting taxpayers in the region was to tell them the services and products the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) is offering and how the tax compliance agency has improved its services.
“We also had a session where we allowed tax payers to give feedback on how they feel about the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA),” he added.
Obell stated that to ensure tax payers understand about the mandate of KRA, they are working with the church, chiefs and all other organizations so that people get knowledge about obligation and why they are supposed to pay taxes.
“We are ready to go to all places to ensure that people are sensitized about tax payment and its importance,” he said.
