NAIROBI, Kenya August 20 – The Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) has posted a 1.7 percent increased revenue growth after collecting Sh 1.61 trillion in year ending June compared to the Sh 1.58 trillion collected in the previous year.
The new figure also signifies a 97.9 percent performance rate at a time when coronavirus pandemic has threatened the country’s economy.
KRA Commissioner General Githi Mburu, through a statement says the good performance is favourable and matches the prevailing economic indicators, especially the projected GDP growth of between 1.5 percent and 2.3 percent.
“In spite of the difficult operating economic environment brought about by COVID-19 pandemic, the revenue collection in FY 2019/20 (July 2019-June 2020) reached a new record,” he said.
The agency noted that the PAYE Tax grew by 2 percent, Withholding Tax went up by 18.2 percent while Corporation tax recorded a 4. 8 percent growth.
Nonetheless, KRA noted that the 2 percent increase in PAYE tax was a drop from an average growth of 11 percent recorded between July 2019 and February 2020.
“The slow growth was driven by decline in employment rate in the fourth quarter emanating from measures taken by mainly private firms to reduce operating costs,” Mburu noted.
On the other hand, Domestic Excise and Domestic VAT recorded a decline of 6.4 percent and 7 percent respectively.
Trade Taxes and Petroleum Taxes recorded a decline of 3.5 percent and 1.4 percent respectively.
The Domestic Taxes Department (DTD) collected Sh 1.09 trillion down from an average growth of 13.9 percent recorded in the period July 2019 to February 2020, signifying a growth of 4 percent.
The revenue collected by the Customs and Border Control was Sh510.63 billion, translating a 98.4 performance rate.
The exchequer grew by 2.2 percent with a collection of Sh 1.5 trillion compared to Sh 1.47 Trillion collected in 2018/19 financial year.
