The Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) has defied all odds to surpass its revenue target after eight years.
In its 2020/2021 financial year, KRA hit a new record to collect Ksh.1.669 trillion compared to Ksh.1.607 trillion collected in the previous period.
The surplus represents a performance rate of 101 percent and revenue growth of 3.9 percent compared to the last financial year.
According to the commissioner general Githii Mburu, the performance is consistent with the prevailing economic indicators, especially the projected Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth of 0.6 percent in 2020.
“This performance was driven by increased remittance from energy, agriculture and construction sectors with a growth of 222.7 percent, 33.1 percent, and 31.9 percent respectively,” Githii said in a statement.
In addition, revenue collection more than doubled in the last 10 years from Ksh.707 billion to Ksh.1.669 trillion representing a growth of 136 percent.
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The Domestic Taxes Department (DTD) collected Ksh.1.039 trillion during the financial year translating to a performance rate of 99.8 percent while Customs and Border Control collected Ksh.624.77 billion, surpassing its target of Ksh.606 billion.
Petroleum taxes amounted to Ksh.226.680 billion posting a growth of 34.5 percent and a surplus of Ksh.12.252 billion.
Non-oil revenue recorded a growth of 16.4 percent with collections amounting to Ksh.398.1 billion which was above target by Ksh.5.9 billion.
Corporation tax recorded a growth of 3.7 percent in financial year 2020/21 despite a tough business environment, where the tax rate was reduced from 30 percent to 25 percent in the first half of the financial year. However, the taxman recorded a 9.3 percent decline in Pay As You Earn (PAYE), in the last financial year, a drop from an average growth of 2.0 percent recorded during the same time last year.
According to KRA, the decline was driven by a reduction in employment caused by measures taken by private firms to reduce operating costs as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
