NAIROBI, Kenya, Oct 17- The Kenya Revenue Authority recorded a shortfall in tax revenue amounting to Sh317.7 billion in the first quarter of the 2020/2021 financial year.
The National Treasury through a gazette notice revealed that this was a 15 percent drop from a Sh151 billion it had collected in a similar period last year.
Initially, KRA had an estimated target of Sh1.56 trillion for the review period ending September 30, 2020.
At the same time, non-tax revenue collections also hit Sh24 billion from an estimated Sh66 billion in the period under review.
The drop in the collections has been attributed to some of the tax breaks introduced by the government to cushion Kenyans from the COVID-19 shocks.
The government has in recent months relaxed COVID-19 restrictions to revive the battered economy from the coronavirus pandemic.
The situation however remains unpredictable owing to increased virus cases witnessed in recent days.
As a result, the National Treasury cut KRA’s annual tax targets to June 30, 2021 by Sh66 billion to Sh1.568 trillion.
