Chinese firm found guilty of evading over Sh 1 billion in taxes

Tax Appeals Tribunal upholds tax assessment against China Communications Construction Company.[Courtesy]

The Tax Appeals Tribunal (TAT) has upheld a tax assessment of Sh1,047,557,661 against China Communications Construction Company Limited.

The tribunal rejected the company's appeal on Friday, August 9, 2024.

According to the tribunal, China Communications Construction Company Ltd used a complex scheme involving fictitious invoices and shell companies to evade over Sh1 billion in taxes.

The Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) issued the assessment on February 3, 2023, following an audit.

The company, a majority state-owned entity, contended that the audit was flawed.

KRA investigations revealed inflated VAT claims from six shell companies without known addresses.

The companies then passed the claims to other shell entities, complicating the scheme.

"The appellant failed to address the issues of fraud and tax avoidance schemes raised by the Respondent's witness," the tribunal said.

"The burden of proof shifted to the Appellant to provide evidence by affidavit, witness statements or otherwise to rebut these assertions. This was not done."

The tribunal also noted that the firm's transactions seemed to be an elaborate scheme to avoid tax payments.

"It is also not common for all traders and entities doing business with the Appellant to adopt the same modus operandi of lacking documents, converting Sh to USD and transferring funds to China," it added.