Kikuyu Member of Parliament Kimani Ichung'wah has fronted a bill allowing collaboration between the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) and public institutions of higher learning.
This proposal was submitted by the Cabinet Secretary of the National Treasury and Economic Planning Njuguna Ndung'u as part of the Budget for the year 2024/2025.
As outlined in the Kenya Revenue Authority (Amendment) Bill 2024, KRA will partner with higher institutions of learning to offer programs in revenue administration.
Additionally, the authority shall develop curricula to assess or examine students and award them qualifications.
The new bill aims to amend the Kenya Revenue Authority Act by inserting a new subsection immediately after subsection 2A. Section 2A of the act allows the authority to establish an institution to provide capacity building and training to the staff of the Authority, the general public and other jurisdictions.
If the bill is passed as it is, the authority will be allowed to partner with various institutions of learning such as universities, colleges and TVETs to offer programs on revenue administration.
"The functions of the institution established under subsection 2A shall include offering directly or in collaboration with any other institutions of higher learning, programs in revenue administration and any other programs as may be deemed fit," reads part of the amendment.
This will be part of the authority's functions. One of the key functions of KRA is the collection and receiving of all revenue.
Also, the authority can advise the government on all matters relating to the administration and collection of revenue under the written laws.
Additionally, KRA is also mandated to perform any other function in relation to revenue as directed by the CS.
These new programs will increase revenue literacy among young Kenyans. The 2021 Global Financial Literacy Survey revealed that only 38 per cent of Kenyans are financially literate.
In March, KRA partnered with the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development (KICD) to develop exclusive tax e-resources for students under the Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC). This was to improve tax literacy in Kenya.
