Kenya Power has asked all customers who use electricity bills to claim Value Added Tax (VAT) returns to update their records.
In a notice issued via the government publication MyGov on Tuesday, January 21, Kenya Power asked customers to submit copies of their Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) pin and a National Identity Card, partnership certificates, certificates of incorporation, or any other legal registration documents.
The other details customers need to share are email address, telephone number, and postal address.
These documents are to be submitted to the County Commercial Services Engineer located at the nearest Kenya Power office.
“Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) on the simplification of VAT return filing for VAT registered taxpayers, Kenya Power would like to inform all customers who use electricity bills to claim VAT returns to update their records accordingly,” stated Kenya Power in the notice.
A VAT return is a monthly declaration submitted by VAT-registered businesses and individuals to KRA. This return details the VAT collected on sales and the VAT paid on purchases during the reporting period. The purpose is to determine the net VAT liability or refund due to the business.
The notice follows a move from KRA to implement a simplified VAT return filing process for VAT-registered taxpayers, effected from the November 2024 tax period.
This initiative involves pre-filling VAT returns with tax information already available to KRA, aiming to streamline the filing process and enhance the taxpayer experience.
As part of the changes effected last year, taxpayers must issue electronic tax invoices and transmit the invoice details to KRA as mandated by law.
Input VAT claims not validated through the Tax Invoice Management System (TIMS) or eTIMS or not supported by existing customs import declarations for import VAT claims are disallowed.
Despite the pre-filled returns, taxpayers retain the responsibility to verify the accuracy of their declarations before submission, which has necessitated Kenya Power’s request for customers to verify their details.
