Why whistle-blowing will save Kenya's Government revenue

Sometimes back, an acquaintance of mine frantically looked for Kenya Revenue Authority’s (KRA) contacts to report his employer who had been cheating on tax payment.

Interestingly, this happened after his employer fired him under unclear circumstances. If he had not been fired, he could not have had the motivation to lift the lid on the tax evasion.

The Government could be losing millions of shillings to lawbreaking taxpayers and employers who either fail to declare the true value of their tax liabilities or under declare the same. Unfortunately, such vices go on unabated under the noses of a few taxpayers and employees.

Usually, the workers are aware of the tax cheats, but fail to be patriotic enough and do their due diligence of reporting such cases to the relevant authorities such as KRA for the culprits to be brought to book.

KRA has a whistle-blowing policy which allows the public to anonymously report tax evasion. The policy comes with a reward of five per cent of the recovered tax or Sh2 million, whichever is lower, to the whistle-blower who successfully enables the taxman to recover undeclared or unpaid tax. 

We have a role to play in sealing possible cracks to increase Government revenue. The Government cannot do everything on its own.