The Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) is set to auction personal items seized at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) on September 29, 2021.
The taxman had confiscated the undeclared personal items seized from Kenyans re-entering the country through JKIA, who intentionally fail to declare the items in order to avoid paying tax.
This has seen a spike in the number of items seized as KRA stepped up its purge on tax evasion.
Bernard Kibiti, the Chief Manager at the Nairobi Customs Station, disclosed that the seized goods would be auctioned if the owners failed to pay the tax due in time.
Personal effects such as clothing, footwear, handbags, paintings, human hair extensions and wigs, earrings dominate the list of confiscated items.
In 2016, the tax agency set the maximum duty collected on personal effects at Ksh50,000 in a bid to speed up clearance of passengers at the international airport.
It also listed the items to be subjected to customs taxes at the arrival and departure terminals.
"Passengers should familiarise themselves with the allowable concession of USD500 (Ksh54,900), the specific exemptions, types of goods prohibited and those that are restricted," KRA Commissioner for Customs and Border Control, Lilian Nyawanda, stated.
In the new guidelines, all taxable items attract levies at rates determined by the value of money paid in a foreign country rather than factors such as quality, size or weight.
The new guidelines were informed by complaints lodged by passengers arriving from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and China, who stated that they were subjected to extortionist rates.
Passengers departing from Kenya are required to fill in a Temporary Importation Form-P45 to declare items being shipped overseas for repair and the accompanying tools and show the receipt during return as a declaration.
Also, items bought and carried for business promotional and commercial purposes need to be declared during departure for the purposes of taxes on return.
Electronics like phones, video recorders and projectors bought while on a trip to Kenya and currency exceeding Ksh1 million (USD10,000) must also be declared at the customs before departure.
