Almost 1 million Kenyans missed the June 30 deadline to file their tax returns, facing potential penalties and interest from the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA).
According to Section 52B of the Income Tax Act (CAP 470), failure to file your returns before the deadline lapses for any Kenyan with a KRA pin attracts penalties.
Every Kenyan with an iTax account is expected to submit the declaration by 30th June (six months after the year ends).
Penalties from KRA for various tax-related offenses
According to the taxman, failure to file returns before the deadline on June 30 attracts a Ksh2,000 penalty or five percent of the individual’s tax bill, whichever is higher.
For employers, failure to deduct PAYE, account for it, or submit a certificate upon request attracts a penalty of 25% of the amount of the tax involved or Ksh10,000, whichever is greater.
Further, according to KRA- failure to deduct or remit Withholding Tax leads to a penalty of 10% of the amount of the tax involved, up to a maximum of Ksh1 million.
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At the same time, failure to remit Excise Duty or VAT will lead to a penalty of 5% of the amount of the tax due or Ksh. 10,000, whichever is greater- while failure to pay tax on the due date results in a 20% penalty on the tax involved.
KRA emphasizes the importance of timely tax compliance to avoid these significant penalties and maintain good standing with the tax authority.
With a substantial number of individuals at risk, the impact of these penalties could be widely felt across the country.
KRA Extended Working Hours
On June 29, KRA extended its working hours to assist taxpayers in filing their 2023 returns and applying for the Tax Amnesty program, ahead of the June 30, 2024, deadline.
Tax Service Offices (TSOs) were opened from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday, 29th June and from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sunday June 30 to cater for the increased demand for assistance.
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At the time, taxpayers were encouraged to take advantage of these extended hours to ensure they meet the filing deadline and benefit from the Tax Amnesty program.
This announcement came after KRA announced that over 4,000,000 taxpayers had already filed their 2023 tax returns on June 18.
KRA Data Clean up
In a statement on Monday, June 23, the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) announced a mandatory register data clean up exercise and verification of taxpayers’ details.
KRA said the ongoing exercise is aimed at ensuring the integrity of the taxpayers’ register with a view to enhance service delivery to all taxpayers.
“KRA would like to notify all registered taxpayers of the ongoing data clean up exercise of taxpayers’ Personal Identification Number (PIN) registration details,” KRA said.
The Authority explained that it has rolled out One Time Password (OTP) for update of taxpayers’ contacts in the iTax system as part of the data clean up exercise.
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