This archive report was first published on 12 December 2019.
On December 12, 2019, Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) proposed new rules for importers of consolidated goods to boost tax collection. The move aimed to address complaints from some importers who used brokers as consolidators in foreign countries.
A multi-agency team of KRA, Kenya Bureau of Standards, and Kenya Ports Authority made it mandatory for consolidators to be registered in Kenya. The consolidator must have a physical store or office and be tax compliant.
KRA will upload a list of all registered consolidators and the countries they operate from. Commissioner General Githii Mburu said, “This is aimed at addressing complaints by some small scale importers who do not know who they are dealing with when it comes to tax issues.”
The rules followed a presidential directive in May 2019 to address the concerns of small scale importers. The importers had met President Uhuru Kenyatta and complained that the taxman was holding their goods over tax issues, causing them huge losses.
At the time, 702 containers belonging to the traders were being held at container depots over tax issues. Since then, KRA has cleared more than 500 containers and released them to the owners.
