This archive report was first published on 4 September 2019.
Published on September 4, 2019, a local daily reported that the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) had suspended taxes on bottled water, juices, soda, and other non-alcoholic beverages.
However, in a statement released on Wednesday, KRA dismissed the report as 'erroneous and misleading', stating that no taxes had been suspended.
According to KRA, taxes are imposed by law and become effective by statute. The taxman clarified that it had postponed the implementation of the Excisable Goods Management System (EGMS), a tool for accounting, production, and traceability of excisable goods.
Implementation of the EGMS system on production lines is ongoing at manufacturers' premises, with 91% of automated lines installed so far.
Excise duty on bottled water, juices, soda, and other non-alcoholic beverages is expected to raise costs by between 50 cents and Ksh.2.80 per bottle.
