KRA crack down on luxury vehicles now extended to car bazaars

NAIROBI, KENYA: The Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) has stepped up its crackdown on motor vehicles, suspected to have been illegally registered in the local market. 

The on-going crackdown, which has already seen the issuance of a recall notice for 124 motor vehicles suspected to have outstanding tax issues, has this morning been expanded to cover Car Bazaars in all major towns. 

The crackdown covering car bazaars will be undertaken through a series of sting operations geared at tracing motor vehicles that may have been previously marked as transit vehicles. Such vehicles, destined for the neighbouring countries, are now feared to have been, diverted to the local market by unscrupulous traders. 

In Nairobi, a team of KRA officials successfully managed to comb through several car Bazaars issuing seizure notices for units suspected to be non-compliant. 

As per the earlier recall notice, the vehicle owners, will be required to present their respective units together with the original ownership, transfer and importation documents to the Commissioner of Investigation and Enforcement, tomorrow (Tuesday) morning at the Nairobi Railways Club for verification. 

Many of the vehicles comprise of Sports Utility Vehicles and related luxury units and are part of an on-going investigation covering transit vehicles suspected to have been diverted to the local market. 

Failure to voluntarily present the vehicles and the documents will lead to legal action as provided for in revenue laws the KRA enforces. 

Speaking when he confirmed the on-going crackdown, KRA Commissioner General John Njiraini, assured that the process will be undertaken humanely and advised current registered owners to co-operate with the Authority. 

“We are conscious that some of these vehicles may have already been sold to innocent unsuspecting customers and we are asking them to co-operate with our officers in the on-going investigations,” Njiraini said. 

The Authority, suspects that unscrupulous importers have not been paying taxes on many high-end luxury vehicles imported from Britain, Japan and other European that are sold to unsuspecting customers at car bazaars.