The Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) collected over Ksh.21 billion through out-of-court deals reached through its Alternative Disputes Resolution (ADR) mechanisms.
This follows the resolution of 393 ADR cases between July 2020 and March 2021.
KRA’s Commissioner in charge of legal services and board coordination Paul Matuku said there has been a 109 percent growth in the number of cases and a 389 percent growth in revenue unlocked during that nine-month period compared to a similar period during the 2019/2020 financial year.
The taxman recorded a 56 percent growth in the number of ADR applications to 661 from 425 received in the financial year 2019/2020.
ADR mechanism has been under implementation by the taxman since the year 2015.
ADR is a mediation process in which a taxpayer can opt to represent himself without the need for an advocate or a tax representative.
The process provides a win-win outcome for the parties which leaves both parties happy with the outcome and prevents the further escalation of disputes.
Tax Procedures Act provides that under the ADR framework, disputes should be resolved within 90 days, to ensure that disputes are resolved in an expeditious and timeous manner.
Although the law allows for 90 days, the resolution of cases under ADR can be achieved in a much shorter period.
Despite the current COVID-19 pandemic-related challenges, KRA said the resolution of disputes through ADR remained unhampered as meetings are conducted virtually.
The average time taken to resolve ADR cases has been reduced from 89 days in the financial year 2019/2020 to 42 days in the current financial year 2020/2021.
