Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) has issued the final word on extending the June 30 deadline for filing returns.
Judith Njagi, Chief Manager Taxpayer Services Nairobi region stated that the deadline would not be extended and those who had not filed in time would be fined Kshs.20,000.
“All taxpayers are still encouraged to file. The penalty for late filing of all the annual returns is five per cent of tax due or Sh20, 000, whichever is higher,” she was quoted by the Nation.
She added that 3.2 Million taxpayers had met the deadline translating to 900,000 more as compared to the previous year.
[caption caption="KRA offices at Times Tower, Nairobi"]
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Judith further revealed that defaulters would start receiving notices to comply including those with a pin but have no source of income.
Those with zero income are expected to file a nil return on the iTax website.
Good news for Kenyans though will be from 2019 where individuals and businesses will be allowed to apply for deadline extensions when filing their tax returns.
The move is among changes contained in the Tax Procedures Act which take effect from July 1.
Under the new rules, however, one will have to apply for an extension of the tax filing period 30 days before the June 30 deadline.
In addition, businesses which file their tax returns monthly will be allowed to seek extensions 30 days before the due date.
For such businesses, the deadline for filing returns monthly is the 20th day following the month of deduction.
Currently, there is no such provision. When contacted by Kenyans.co.ke, a KRA representative stated that the current income tax does not allow for such a request to be fulfilled.
[caption caption="KRA Commissioner-General John Njiraini"]
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