KRA sensitises traders on new tax

Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) will partner with county governments to enforce the new presumptive tax that comes into effect on January 1.

The tax will target small-scale traders seeking business permits from county governments.

This emerged when senior officers from KRA met traders at a Naivasha hotel to sensitise them on the new tax.

According to the KRA’s supervisor in charge of Corporate Policy Unit Leonard Cheserem, traders will pay the tax separately from the business permit fee.

The presumptive tax will replace the turnover tax which has been in place for a number of years.

Cheserem said the tax would be charged at the point of single business permit licensing and applied to small and medium enterprises with a gross turnover of less that Sh5 million.

“Traders are supposed to pay this tax directly to KRA and we are working closely with the county governments to make sure that we meet our targets,” he said.

“The rate of the presumptive tax is 15 per cent of the single business permit or the trading license paid by the small-scale traders,” he said.

KRA Naivasha station manager John Maina said they are keen to work with traders and help them resolve tax-related issues.

“The new presumptive tax can be paid through the KRA pay bill number or through our partner banks after generating a payment registration number,” he said.

Seeking data

On rental income tax, Mr Maina said the authority was seeking more data from Kenya Power, water authorities and land officers.

“Some landlords have ignored to pay the rental taxes and we are getting data from the Government institutions so that they can pay as per the law,” he said.

One of the traders, Steve Mburu, however, lamented over the manner that KRA was conducting its affairs, saying it made many of them fearful of the authority.