NAIROBI, Kenya, Mar 18 – The Cabinet Secretary for Treasury, Njuguna Ndung’u, has emphasized the potential for personalized tax refunds through electronic receipts from supermarket purchases, bypassing compensation through companies.
This concept relies on the implementation of the electronic tax invoice management system (eTIMS), with a looming deadline of March 31.
“We missed the boat somewhere. In this age of technology, we can decide that we are going to have personalised tax refunds through one’s receipts when we purchase things in the supermarket. Then we are going to compensate you directly and not through the firm,” Ndung’u said.
The Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) recently introduced eTIMS Lite to facilitate the inclusion of players in the informal sector.
However, the KRA reversed its decision to exempt farmers and small businesses with turnovers below Sh5 million from producing electronic invoices, stating that all businesses in Kenya must electronically generate and transmit invoices.
“The following transactions shall be excluded from the requirement of an electronic tax invoice…supplies by a resident person whose annual turnover is less than five million shillings,” the KRA said in the regulations.
Other transactions were emoluments, imports, interest, airline passenger ticketing, accounting adjustments, fees charged by financial institutions, and services provided by a foreigner without a permanent establishment in Kenya.
