MPs want tax cap on personal items raised

KRA’s Commissioner in charge of Customs and Border Control Department Lilian Nyawanda. [Elvis Ogina, Standard]

Parliament is pilling pressure on the Kenya Revenue Authority to review the taxation of personal or household items worth Sh75,000 and above.

MPs said they would initiate a process to compel KRA to review the tax cap on dutiable goods from the current figure to Sh5 million.

While appearing before the National Assembly Finance and Appropriations Committee Wednesday, KRA was taken to task over the inhumane treatment of passengers and tourists at airports while implementing the East African Community Customs Management Act (EACCMA 2004).

This came even as the taxman revealed they had collected Sh51 million in four months through the controversial 19-year-old law.

The Molo MP Kimani Kuria-led committee, expressed concern over complaints at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport on Tuesday, where tourists were subjected to harassment, intimidation and profiling - giving the country bad publicity and adversely affecting tourism.

“We will introduce a motion to amend the EACCMA Act 2004 to ensure the tax is increased,” said Kuria.

“...KRA has also brought it to our attention that they are pursuing a similar proposal through the National Treasury and the East Africa Community  Council of Ministers but we will be pursuing our own process to ensure the desired outcome is achieved,” he added.

KRA’s Commissioner in charge of Customs and Border Control Department Lilian Nyawanda came under fire from the MPs, who sought to know why the move had to be implemented now despite the law having been in existence since 2004. The MPs also questioned why Kenya, of the other East African countries, was the only one hastily implementing it.

Recounting his experience with customs, Kuria said there was a concerted effort by the taxman to target phone owners who are then “forced” to pay taxes.

“There is no clear framework on how the screening at the airport is being conducted. The officers from customs also have a foul attitude and seem to target iPhones... I doubt tourists would want to come back to Kenya after such treatment,” he said.

South Imenti MP Shadrack Mwiti accused KRA officers of being culturally inappropriate by searching and displaying his “underwear in front of his grandchildren”. 

“We want to know what professional method KRA is using to determine what constitutes personal goods and commercial goods before proceeding to demand for tax,” said Mwiti.

Eldas MP Adan Keynan claimed infighting within the tax agency was to blame for the knee-jerk enforcement of the EACCMA ACT 2004.

He also recounted how he was harassed by a customs official over a $5 newspaper but chose to de-escalate the situation by walking away.

“We are aware one of KRA’s mandates is to collect tax but the ‘how’ is what we are against. At this point I am convinced that KRA’s interest is to humiliate passengers rather than sort out issues amicably,” Keynan said.

Commissioner Nyawanda, however, defended KRA saying the upscale of the screening had been necessitated by an upsurge in the number of dutiable items. “Tax collection is our mandate but I agree that how we are doing it might be the problem and that is what we need to rectify,” she said.

On the hue and cry by Kenyans over the Sh75,000 limit on taxable goods being too low, she said: “We may not be able to change the law at the moment.”