This archive report was first published on 23 April 2020.
On April 22, 2020, Choppies Enterprises Limited, a retail supermarket chain with origins in Botswana, filed an application in the High Court in Nairobi seeking to unfreeze its accounts pending resolution of an ongoing tax dispute. However, the court ruled in favour of the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) and dismissed the application with costs to KRA.
According to the court, KRA had moved to freeze Choppies' bank accounts to secure taxes amounting to Ksh173,388,416. The Authority's move was informed by the fact that Choppies, which had taken over Ukwala Supermarkets Limited, was in the process of winding up business in Kenya.
Justice David Majanja found that KRA was right to freeze Choppies' bank accounts to secure the taxes in dispute. The court further held that KRA had provided undisputed evidence that Choppies had commenced disposing of its assets and winding up business in Kenya.
Choppies was faulted for not disclosing its financial position, failing to disclose how much was held in their accounts and what would be realized from the sale of their assets.
The court gave Choppies and KRA fourteen (14) days to explore an amicable settlement of the tax dispute.
