No More Tax Waivers for Kenyans, President Ruto Says

President Ruto has announced there will be no more tax waivers for Kenyans due to pressing development needs.

Ruto, who is seeking to expand annual revenue collections as part of the efforts to tame ballooning public debt, said other alternatives should be considered before waiver requests.

“We all must pay taxes, including myself…Tax waivers won’t be an option anymore. The only way to use our resources to develop Kenya is to pay your taxes,” said during an interdenominational service at Bomet Green Stadium on Sunday.

“This waiver matter is a difficult one. With all these development initiatives it will be difficult to finance our programs if we take that route,” he added.

The Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) occasionally grants waivers to certain taxpayers who find themselves in situations where they are unable to comply with the strict tax filing deadlines.

When a taxpayer files their tax return either late or not at all, KRA slaps them with penalties that continue to accumulate interest until they are paid.

Such a taxpayer can file an application to the tax authority requesting to have the fines and interest rates waived. 

All waiver requests must be completely filled out and contain all required supplementary information and supporting materials.

Ruto has insisted that the country still has the potential to get more than Sh2.03 trillion KRA collected in the financial year ending June 2022

He argued that countries in the same income category as Kenya raise between 20-25 per cent of their GDP from taxes.

“We must move our revenue collection from 14 per cent to 25 per cent. From Sh2.1 trillion to between Sh4 trillion and Sh5 trillion,” he said in November.

The president gave KRA a revenue collection target of Sh3 trillion by the end of the next financial year and to double it over the next five years.