This archive report was first published on 19 August 2019.
Kenya's tax collection slowed down in July 2019, with the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) netting Sh107.87 billion, a growth of 8.99 percent over the Sh98.97 billion collected in the same period a year earlier.
This growth was slower compared to the 12.74 percent increase recorded in July 2018, according to Treasury statistics released on Friday, August 19, 2019.
As is typical at the start of the financial year, tax collections were lower in July due to little or no development expenditure by the Government and delays in the kick-off of new taxes pending lawmakers' approvals.
Notably, the State Department of Energy was the only one that spent on development in July, and counties had not been allocated cash following a stalemate over the Bill that guides sharing of revenues between the devolved units and national government.
The taxman has struggled to meet revenue targets in recent years, with the target for the year to June 2019 being moved twice from Sh1.69 trillion to Sh1.61 trillion in December and eventually to Sh1.51 trillion in June, but still being missed by Sh72.66 billion in the end.
According to KRA's deputy commissioner for strategy, innovation and risk management, Joseline Ogai, 'Targets are a matter of balancing ambition and the reality of what's happening in terms of economy.' She added, 'We have not succeeded for the last few years, but our objective is always to meet the target as printed. But what underpins those targets is ambition.'
