A trader supplying the United Nations has defeated Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) in a Ksh790 million dispute the two were embroiled in.
A report by Business Daily on Thursday, May 20, that the taxman had turned its guns towards businessman Abdi Amin accusing him of failing to pay his taxes.
Amin operates a fuel station and provides transportation services for the United Nations.
KRA had filed a suit at the Tax Appeals Tribunal (TAT) seeking to recover the arrears including Ksh512.92 million for income tax and Ksh274.95 million for Value Added Tax accrued between 2016 and 2019.
In its application, the taxman based its claims on iTax filings made by the businessman in which he filed between 2015 and 2017.
The authority further argued that in 2018, Amin filed Nil returns despite receiving a Ksh5 million earning.
The businessman, however, refuted their claims arguing that he had evidence for filing Nil returns but KRA refuted the claim leading to seizure orders for Abdi's property.
After a careful review of the case, however, the tribunal unearthed irregularities in KRA records revealing that Amin's National ID had been used to register Personal Identification Numbers (PIN).
This, the taxman explained, raised doubts about the integrity of the tax records belonging to the businessman.
As a result, KRA was barred from demanding the amount from the trader and was ordered to conduct a fresh audit to ascertain the records.
In recent months, KRA has lost a number of tax arrear claims hence suffering a blow in its attempt to increase revenue collection even as the economy continues to deteriorate.
In February, the taxman lost a case against a Chinese Company where it had sought to recover Ksh69 Million in taxes.
The taxman sought to get Ksh64 million tax on allowances paid to police officers by the China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC) during the construction of the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) line.
