The Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) on Friday announced a new requirement for all housing project developers to ensure that homeowners do not evade remitting taxes.
The taxman explained that there is an emerging trend where homeowners rent out their properties and fail to remit taxes required of landlords/landladies.
Records filed with KRA will reflect that they are still living at the property while they are illegally benefitting from rent charged to undisclosed tenants.
In the new edict, the taxman will require the developers to provide a document containing the details of every person to whom they sell their properties.
[caption caption="Image of a private development project in Nairobi"]
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The excel sheet from the developers will contain details of the unit number, owners name, owners ID, Owners PIN, occupier, rent paid, the date when the rent was first paid and the last day.
A letter written by KRA official Josephine Mugure assured the developers that the information provided will strictly be used for tax compliance purposes.
Ms Mugure wrote to Five Star Gardens - Syokimau concerning the matter giving the developers seven days to respond with the required information.
KRA had issued a one-year amnesty to landlords to declare rental income. The period expired on June 30, 2018.
The taxman further explained that it had already begun the process of tracking down the landlords in what they term "a block approach". Utility companies are said to be assisting in the matter.
Landlords are now charged at a flat rate after KRA did away with a previous percentage system that proved to be too complicated for the layman to calculate.
[caption caption="Entrance to the Times Tower building, Nairobi, which houses KRA headquarters"]
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