NAIROBI, Kenya Oct 8 – The Prime Cabinet Secretary, Musalia Mudavadi, has emphasized the need for tax administrators in the country to leverage technology-driven solutions to elevate trade and domestic resource mobilization.
Speaking during the launch of the KRA Summit 2024, Mudavadi stressed that the embracement will be key to ensuring trade transparency, revenue generation, and fostering efficient trade management.
Furthermore, the Prime CS noted that incorporating data analytics, artificial intelligence, and machine learning will enable tax authorities to foresee revenue with refined precision and improve compliance and risk profiling.
“Innovation ranging from digital taxation platforms that simplify compliance to blockchain technologies that enhance trade transparency provides vital tools for revenue generation and efficient trade management,” he stated.
“Additionally, electronic invoicing systems can integrate the informal economy into the formal tax base, widening the scope for domestic resource mobilization,” he added.
Echoing Mudavadi in the same event, the CS for National Treasury and Economic Planning, John Mbadi, stressed that embracing technology by tax institutions will further enable them to address various challenges faced by tax administrations, such as money laundering, tax evasion, and corruption.
“Only through innovation can we enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of our revenue mobilization efforts,” he stated.
According to KRA Commissioner General Humphrey Wattanga, the authority is already exploring various technologies and is already implementing Application Programming Interfaces (APIs), AI, and machine learning to facilitate seamless data exchange between KRA and the taxpayers.
