The Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, led by Renson Inganga, has initiated prosecutions against multiple Kenyan citizens for violating tax laws to evade payment of millions of shillings.
At the forefront of these cases is a pair accused of orchestrating fraudulent schemes to evade up to Ksh100 million in taxes.
The duo faces three charges of fraud related to tax evasion, allegedly submitting false purchase records to evade Value Added Tax (VAT).
In one instance, they falsely reported purchases totalling Ksh11,873,000 in January 2020, thereby reducing their VAT liability by Ksh1,899,680.
In February 2022, they submitted fraudulent purchases amounting to Ksh357,003,185, thereby reducing their VAT liability by Ksh57,088,510.
They repeated this offence by falsely claiming purchases of Ksh281,845,744, reducing their VAT liability by Ksh45,095,281.
In separate charges, the two face an additional seven counts related to making false customs entries using a Personal Identification Number (PIN) belonging to another individual.
Between 2016 and 2018, the duo allegedly failed to declare income totaling Ksh159 million, thereby evading substantial income tax payments.
They are among slightly over 16 individuals currently facing prosecution by the DP for offences directly related to attempting to evade tax payments.
This development comes as the deadline for filing tax returns approaches.
On Tuesday, the Kenya Revenue Authority announced that over 4 million taxpayers have already submitted their 2023 tax returns, indicating a trajectory to surpass last year's figures.
"Last year, over 5.4 million tax returns were filed, and in 2017, that number was 2 million. This year, with the current momentum, we expect to exceed last year's numbers," announced KRA.
"The growing awareness and understanding of the importance of fulfilling tax obligations among taxpayers is commendable."
