President William Ruto on Tuesday, April 4, revealed how Rwandan President Paul Kagame's ideas boosted revenue collection in Kenya.
During a joint press briefing in Kigali, Rwanda, Ruto acknowledged Kagame for sharing his country's technology, enabling the taxman to collect Value Added Tax (VAT) efficiently.
"You may want to know that Kenya benefitted from support from Rwanda. I called his excellency, and he was gracious enough to give us their ICT platform for VAT management.
"As a result of that platform, we have seen an improvement in our VAT collection," the Head of State remarked.
According to Ruto, the exchange strengthened existing relations and opened doors for signing subsequent memoranda of understanding (MoUs).
"It is in that context that we are signing some of these Mou to make it easier to share experience, resources, and technology for the better management of our economies and countries," he stated.
Kagame corroborated, adding that good relations between the two countries boosted the programme.
President Ruto was called upon to explain the recent tax incentives he offered American investors, and why the same was not offered to regional businessmen.
Among them was the removal of VAT on exported services will now be removed in the Finance Bill for the financial years 2023/24, paying all verified tax refunds within six months, removing the policy which demands foreign tech companies settling in Kenya to have a 30 per cent domestic equity and exempting startup companies from paying taxes on unrealised gains on employee-allocated shares starting July 1, 2023.
President Ruto made the declarations while addressing investors at the American Chamber of Commerce event, in Nairobi, on Thursday, March 30.
"The incentives I announced are not just for American investors but are for business. We are continuously raising the bar on investment in our region to ensure we attract investment.
"Our own taxes can take us so far but foreign direct investment becomes another avenue of attracting resources to grow opportunity, jobs and the economy," he stated.
Ruto and Kagame signed bilateral agreements in 10 areas of cooperation, including Education, ICT, Gender and Child Development, Youth and Capacity Development for the Public Service.
Other areas of cooperation are Correctional Services, Health, Diplomatic Training, Agriculture, and Cooperatives.
