Renowned economist and government advisor David Ndii has issued an explanation on why the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) will track motorists’ fuel use.
KRA announced that it is linking its electronic Tax Invoice Management System (eTIMS) to fuel stations to curb tax cheats and boost revenues by monitoring motorists’ consumption of diesel and petrol.
This means that every purchase of petroleum products from a fuel station from June 2025 will be accompanied by an eTims receipt or an electronic invoice.
Motorists will be expected to key in their KRA PIN number when buying fuel to activate and acquire the eTIMS receipt.
“To streamline VAT on petroleum products, KRA is in the preliminary phase of implementing electronic tax invoicing at fuel stations through eTIMS fuel stations system integration. This will allow the ability to validate invoices or receipts in real time to facilitate tax refunds,” KRA said.
David Ndii Explains Tracking of Motorists at Fuel Stations
Ndii while responding to a Kenyan who had raised concern over the KRA adventures becoming one too many said the app will track vendor’s VAT tax compliance.
“The purpose of this app is to track the vendor’s VAT tax compliance not the customers. It stands to reason that if you have been charged VAT on fuel, the tax should end up with the Govt, not the petrol station owner,” he said.
David Ndii also addressed concerns about the consolidated cargo business, labeling it a potential “Trojan horse” for mobile phone smuggling.
In one of his posts on Saturday, Ndii emphasized the importance of closing tax leakage loopholes to ensure fair taxation across the board.
“The consolidated cargo business is a trojan horse for mobile phone smuggling. We are sealing tax leakage loopholes one by one,” David Ndii stated.
“It is very unfair for tax burden to fall on payroll workers and corporates who can’t escape the tax net. You are going to be hearing a lot of stealing.”
Also Read: Govt Targets Mobile Phones in New Tax Crackdown
KRA Targets Kenyans Evading Tax
According to KRA’s Chief Manager in Charge of eTIMS, Hakamba Wangwe, the new system could be launched nationwide by June 2025.
Wangwe stated that the tax authority already has three software providers offering the solution.
“There is a fuel forecourt solution that we are already piloting among fuel stations. Basically, this solution provides for a situation where eTIMS is integrated at the pump linking the fuel dispenser with the point of sale,” Wangwe said.
This comes on the hot heels of reports that government will soon be targeting select mobile phones imported into the country and later sold to Kenyans in a plan to broaden the tax base.
Senior Government Advisor Moses Kuria had revealed that target will be on Kenyans who own phones imported into the country with no record of having paid applicable taxes by automatically blocking them from activating any network on the phones.
“Just like we will automatically block from activating on any network any mobile phone imported into the country with no record of having paid applicable taxes. Be guided accordingly,” he said.
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