Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) is seeking to auction properties of Kenyatta International Conference Center (KICC) to recover a debt amounting to Ksh 450.58 million for failing to pay their taxes.
The huge debt was revealed through an audit report released in Parliament by Auditor General Nancy Gathungu.
KRA is demanding Ksh 22.9 million which has been pending for a while, combined with Ksh 413.53 million. On top of that, the taxman also wants another Ksh 14.1 million which KICC failed to clear in the 2018/19 financial year.
In the report, KICC is in total debt of Ksh 928.93 million with different business firms that supplied products on loan.
Out of the Ksh 928.93 million debt, almost Ksh 686.32 was accrued during the World Trade Organization (WTO) meeting which was held at the center back in December 2015.
Auditor General through the report warns that KICC risks being fined heavily which will make it hard for them to clear the debt considering that their total earnings have also dropped drastically.
However, Gathungu has expressed doubt that some of the debts in question may not be genuine.
" Failing to pay taxes at the right time may subject KICC to a heavy fine. Also, there is a possibility of some of their assets being sold to clear the debt," She stated.
KICC is worth Ksh 4.04 billion according to an audit carried out in the financial year 2019/2020.
KRA's latest stance to curb tax evasion comes following a new tax record.
KRA reached a new record of Ksh1.669 trillion compared to Ksh1.607 trillion collected in the last financial year of 2019/20. KRA had set a revenue target in its 2021 Budget Policy Statement at Ksh1.652 trillion which KRA surpassed with a surplus of Ksh16.808 billion.
Their data shows that 5.5 million Kenyans filed their tax returns by June 30, against 4.4 million who had filed their taxes last year, reflecting a 19 percent growth.
