KRA should evaluate tax returns system

The stern approach by the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) towards this year's deadline for tax returns exemplifies a regime that is bankrupt of ideas.

Considering that this year's deadline also included an amnesty for landlords, it made the filing of returns more weighty.

Many landlords did not manage to pay even after filing returns because the itax system was too congested, and many times it hang. The amnesty laws stipulate that you must have paid rental taxes by close of business of June 30 to qualify for amnesty.

This law opens a fresh window of controversy between KRA and landlords who complied fully with the law, but were let down by the itax platform that could not cope.

The fact that only 1.7 million of the four million taxpayers complied with itax, means that 60 per cent failed to comply. This high failure rate should force the President to demand resignation of Commissioner General of KRA for gross incompetence.

What the President should do is to give Kenyans another month to comply. Then massive sensitisation should be carried out. The itax platform is not user-friendly.