The Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) has begun paying out Sh10 billion in Value Added Tax (VAT) refunds following a presidential order and release of funds by National Treasury.
“We have begun paying various businesses entities VAT refunds from special funds allocated by the government and released to KRA and expect to finalise the payments process in one week”, said the Commissioner for Domestic Taxes Elizabeth Meyo.
The refunds are expected offer financial relief to businesses worst hit by the Covid-19 pandemic especially in horticulture, transport and hospitality sectors of the economy.
“Only those business entities that have had their refunds claims verified in line with procedures will receive payments,” said Meyo.
During his last address to the nation, President Uhuru Kenyatta unveiled eight-point economic stimulus programme. The third element of the programme will target Small and Medium Enterprises.
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“The stimulus programme will deal with this in two ways. First and Foremost, we have allocated Sh10 billion to fast-track payment of outstanding VAT refunds and other pending payments. In addition to this, we will inject Sh3 billion as seed capital for the SME Credit Guarantee Scheme. The intention here is to provide affordable credit to small and micro enterprises,” Uhuru said.
