The Treasury Ministry has struck a deal with the Tax Appeals Tribunal to conclude stalled cases within 50 days which will enable the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) to collect over Ksh133 Billion from wealthy people and firms who have cases pending at the tribunal.
In the new agreement, the hearing and determination of pending cases will be fast-tracked unlocking billions of shillings held in the tribunal process, Treasury officials told Parliament.
The stalled cases bar KRA from enforcing stiff measures to ensure revenue collection from the individuals and firms.
KRA Commissioner-General Githii Mburu had earlier unveiled a plan to lift the veil on the faces of obscure billionaires in the country after being granted access to their alleged secret investments.
The agency's detectives discovered that 1,309 firms and wealthy individuals had concealed billions in revenue with the aim of evading paying tax.
"At the Tax Appeals Tribunal, we have over Ksh200 billion. We want those disputes resolved and those taxpayers to come forward through alternative dispute resolution mechanisms," Mburu stated.
Since the mechanism came into force in October 2020, KRA has experienced a surge in taxpayers challenging notices filed at Tax Appeals Tribunal (TAT) impeding the crackdown by the authority.
The petitions sought to stall the authority's enforcement actions such as asset freeze, deactivation of Personal Identification Numbers (PINs) and travel bans which is crucial in the recovery of the unpaid taxes.
The KRA Commissioner-General stated that they were looking for ways wealthy individuals could settle matters outside of the courts.
"We will allow them repayment plans, and if they are not going to pay everything together, we are going to be as accommodative as possible," he added.
In January 2021, an Embu-based business was ordered to pay Ksh9.3 billion to KRA after the taxman penalised the establishment for failing to pay tax for six years, between 2008 and 2014.
The couple appealed the ruling and High Court judge Justice David Majanja directed them to pay Ksh10 million as a condition to stop KRA from collecting the money.
