NAIROBI, Kenya, Oct 25 – Revenue collected by the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) in the first quarter of this financial year (FY) rose by 8.4 percent to Sh586.9 billion compared to a similar period last year.
The latest figures from the taxman show that revenue for the 2023–24 FY improved from Sh541.6 billion in the 2022–23 fiscal year.
KRA links higher collection to the real-time tax collection from gaming and betting firms, whose withholding tax and excise duty grew by 67 percent in the review period.
“The roll out of tax amnesty programme also enhanced collection after KRA collected Sh3.4 billion since September 1, 2023,” KRA said.
However, it failed to meet its collection target for this period by Sh79 billion out of the expected Sh665.9 billion.
This is despite the collection of Sh26 billion daily, representing a 23.8 percent jump on a monthly basis.
The inability to hit the target is linked to poor remittance of pay as you earn (PAYE) by the public sector, a significant decline of 20.7 percent in installment remittance in the information and communication technology sector, and an unfavourable economic environment.
KRA said that the funding has not been adequate to enable the authority to operate at its optimal level.
“The allocated Recurrent Funding plus our expected AIA in the year total to Kshs 28.117 Billion which is insufficient to support even the current operations, i.e., staff costs, existing contracted services and other revenue operational costs up to the end of the financial year,” said the Commissioner General of KRA.
In spite of this, the revenue collector is optimistic about raising Sh2.768 trillion in this FY, which will be a 27.8 percent growth from Sh2.166 in the previous FY.
In Q2, KRA has a goal of raising Sh684.5 billion, meaning 28.8 percent of the required growth.
