This archive report was first published on 28 November 2019.
On November 28, 2019, the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) received an allocation of additional cash to hire 1,000 intelligence and enforcement officers.
The new staff will be tasked with investigating the sources of income and expenditure of high-net-worth individuals against their tax remittances, and will also work on intelligence reports to seek recovery of unpaid taxes.
The KRA has been struggling to meet its revenue targets due to lower corporate profits and job cuts, and the additional staff is expected to help plug the revenue shortfalls.
According to the National Assembly's Budget and Appropriations Committee, the government's revenue collection performance for the 2019-20 financial year may fall short by about Sh120 billion to stand at Sh1.7 trillion.
The KRA has been using various databases to pursue suspected tax cheats, including bank statements, import records, and Kenya Power records.
The authority has also hired a team of auctioneers to help it track properties of individuals and companies who have failed to pay the taxes due.
Among the individuals and companies to be targeted are those that have lost disputes against the KRA in court or at the tax tribunal.
