The taxman, Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA), has been stopped from collecting Ksh2.7 billion per month from betting enthusiasts.
This is after Senior Resident Magistrate D.M. Kivuti sitting at the Milimani Commercial Courts stopped the operations of crucial Income Tax Act sections (Sections 2, 10, 34 and 35).
Although KRA targeted the monies accrued from betting wins, the ruling will effectively rendering KRA unable to collect the taxes earmarked for national development projects.
Treasury CS Henry Rotich had budgeted that the taxes drawn from the betting activities would finance sports, art, cultural developments and the rollout of the Universal Health programmes.
The ruling came after Mr. Benson Irungu filed a suit in 2014 against Sportpesa Ltd seeking to stop Sportpesa from deducting and remitting taxes arising from his and any other person’s winnings.
KRA, which had not been party to the case sought to be enjoined as an interested party while seeking to set aside the earlier orders.
This led to the overturning of the previous ruling on March 29th 2019 allowing KRA to continue collecting due taxes from the betting companies.
Irungu, however, moved to court a fortnight ago seeking orders for the stay of execution against the orders granted in March by Senior Resident Magistrate Isaac Orenge.
Senior Resident Magistrate Kivuti heard the case and issued the orders in KRA’s absence.
KRA only came to know about the ruling on Thursday, April 18.
Through Acting Commissioner Legal Services, Paul Matuku assisted by David Ontweka and George Ochieng, KRA has filed their responses and submissions seeking to vacate the orders by Senior Resident Magistrate Kivuti pending the hearing of the inter-parties case.
