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KRA Commissioner General John Njiraini says plans are underway to open centres in Kisumu, Eldoret, Mombasa, Nyeri and Nakuru by the end of the year/FILE

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KRA to open five iTax centres countrywide

KRA Commissioner General John Njiraini says plans are underway to open centres in Kisumu, Eldoret, Mombasa, Nyeri and Nakuru by the end of the year/FILE

KRA Commissioner General John Njiraini says plans are underway to open centres in Kisumu, Eldoret, Mombasa, Nyeri and Nakuru by the end of the year/FILE

NAIROBI, Kenya Aug 15 – The Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) is investing Sh9 million in opening iTax centres throughout the country in bid to increase compliance and enhance efficiency.

KRA Commissioner General John Njiraini says plans are underway to open centres in Kisumu, Eldoret, Mombasa, Nyeri and Nakuru by the end of the year.

This comes after the taxman opened its new centre in Nairobi.

He said the iTax system has so far integrated about 28 banks to ensure that most taxpayers are covered.

Njiraini says the system is already being used by 93 percent of large taxpayers and 63 percent of medium taxpayers.

“The web-enabled system that seeks to make tax compliance a simple, quick and secure exercise is expected to bring down the cost of tax compliance in logistics, and help reduce interaction between staff and taxpayers, eliminating bribery claims,” he said.

With the system, Njiraini said, the authority expects a rise in revenue collection because it seals several leakages.

The Kenya Revenue Authority met its revised tax collection target of Sh963.7 billion in the fiscal year ended June, helped by double digit growth in revenues from customs duties, large and medium-sized taxpayers.

The taxman surpassed the 2013/2014 full year target collection by Sh100 million as KRA bagged Sh963.8 billion in taxes against a target of Sh963.7 billion.

The Sh963.7 billion targets was a revision of the original target of Sh973.5 billion that was undertaken due to lower economic growth forecasts and depressed imports trends.

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The Sh963.8 billion collection is a 20.4 percent growth from the Sh800 billion that was collected in the 2012/2013 financial year.

Treasury has set a target of Sh1.18 trillion for the taxman in 2014/2015 to help fund a budget of Sh1.7 trillion.

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