Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) collected Ksh. 176.656 billion during the month of April, surpassing its target of Ksh. 170.191 billion by 3.8 percent.
In a statement, KRA Commissioner General, Githii Mburu said the Authority registered a 23.9 percent year-on-year revenue growth compared to Ksh. 144.06 billion collected in April 2020.
This was the fifth successive month that KRA posted an improved and above target performance since December 2020 despite the slow economic progression brought about by COVID-19 pandemic.
He attributed the improved revenue performance to sustained implementation of compliance efforts, revenue enhancement initiatives and improved service delivery to taxpayers, which has led to improved voluntary compliance.
“Additionally, the remarkable performance has also been 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.” said the KRA Commissioner General.
For the fifth month running, the KRA’s Customs and Border Control (C&BC) Department recorded above target performance after surpassing its April target of Ksh. 48.150 billion by 12.1 percent to collect Ksh. 53.996 billion.
The C&BC Department’s performance has been attributed to the growing number of imports in Kenya, which the KRA sais was indicative of the continuous steadily growing economic recovery in the Manufacturing and Construction Sectors.
Domestic Taxes also surpassed its target by 0.2 percent after collecting Ksh. 122.236 billion against the April 2021 revenue collection target of Ksh. 121.615 billion.
Domestic Taxes performance was largely credited to the excellent performance recorded by Corporation Tax. Corporation Tax collection surpassed its target by 16.9 percent to collect Ksh. 39.945 billion against a target of Ksh.34.181 billion.
Pay-As-You-Earn (PAYE) registered a growth of 5.3 percent corresponding to a performance of 98.5 percent with a collection of Ksh.36.951 billion.
Notably, Corporation Tax and PAYE were among the taxes that were raised back to their previous higher rates on January 1, 2021 after being lowered for nearly 7 months as part of measures to cushion businesses and individuals from the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Withholding Income Tax surpassed the April 2021 target by collecting a surplus of Ksh.1.5 billion. This is after registering a collection of Ksh.12.083 billion reflecting a growth of 21.4 percent.
Excise Domestic Tax surpassed the April target after registering a growth of 25.7 percent. The Excise Domestic Tax collection amounted to Ksh. 4.966 billion exceeding the target by Ksh. 311 million.
Mburu said the Authority remains positive on revenue performance following the projected expansion of the economy by above 6.0 percent over the medium term, compared to 0.6 percent projected in 2020, according to Budget Policy Statement 2021.
At the start of the 2020/2021 fiscal year, the National Treasury set out to collect Ksh.1.89 trillion in ordinary revenues. To achieve that target, KRA is implementing a number of revenue enhancement measures.
These include 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.
The KRA is also reaching out to taxpayers with tax disputes to embrace Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) for faster resolution. Last month, the KRA said it had collected over KSh. 21 billion through out-of-court deals reached through its Alternative Disputes Resolution (ADR) mechanisms.
