The Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) has deactivated more than 95,000 Personal Identification Numbers (PINs) in their bid to crack down on tax evaders.
In a statement, KRA noted those affected are mainly individuals and businesses that have failed to migrate their accounts to the online iTAX platform despite having VAT obligations.
The deactivated PINs account for nearly two-thirds of 145,367 Kenyans that have VAT obligations.
“A total of 95,015 PINs have been deactivated as at today, 5th September, 17,” KRA Commissioner in charge of Domestic Taxes Benson Korongo said in a statement
This comes at a time when the taxman has been under huge pressure from the National Treasury to collect more revenue.
On Tuesday, KRA stated that it had sent messages from its systems to non-compliant tax payers last week to enable them reach out to KRA agents in order to regularise their status.
The revenue authority will deactivate pins of taxpayers who have been given 30-day notices to regularise their accounts in the second phase of the crackdown.
Legal experts have, however, faulted the taxman’s move to deactivate non-compliant taxpayers’ PINs, terming the move as illegal.
Nonetheless, KRA defended the move citing huge pressure from the Treasury.
KRA receives an average of 200,000 PIN opening requests every month.
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