On 10^th February 2023, KEPSA and the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) jointly hosted the 9^th Tax Roundtable, a meeting which was convened to deliberate on the roadmap to the prosperity of Kenya’s revenue generation and competitive business environment. The virtual engagement centred on: Ensuring the Simplification of tax laws and procedures to reduce the burden on businesses and improve tax compliance; Leveraging tax technology and digital transformation; Tax incentives for investment, growth innovation and economic growth; and forging a partnership towards collaborative compliance.

The Roundtable was attended by over 270 participants. The KEPSA team was led by the CEO Ms Carole Kariuki while the KRA side was led by Commissioner General Mr Githii Mburu. Also present in the meeting were KEPSA Directors led by the Chairperson Ms Flora Mutahi together with other KEPSA leaders and top management of the Authority.

The KEPSA CEO acknowledged the sustained partnerships between KEPSA and KRA while calling upon the Authority to expand the tax base as a way of increasing revenue collection and supporting SMEs and startups owing to their importance in the economy.  She said that the heavy taxing on a few businesses may render them uncompetitive. She further urged for a long-term solution to the VAT refunds challenge faced by many private sector businesses and urged the industry players in attendance to voice their concerns and proposals.

Mr Mburu in his address took note of the private sector concerns and iterated the commission’s determined focus on a number of areas to improve revenue collection while maintaining a favourable business environment for the private sector including the full rollout of Tax Invoice Management System (TIMS), Customs measures leveraging on technology, Integration with Telco's, and use of a mobile App, and TBE in the informal sector. He called upon KEPSA to champion and rally its members to uptake and enhance the uptake of KRA’s innovative tax solutions, notably the TIMS to seal VAT loopholes.

The KEPSA Public Finance Sector Board Vice Chair Ms Rose Mwaura introduced topical issues of discussion that were segmented in the themes stated above. She thereafter called on Ms Jilna Shah from RSM Eastern Africa, a member of the KEPSA Public Finance Sector Board to present key private sector concerns including VAT refunds, implementation of the TIMS, frequent/unannounced and duplicated audits. The KRA team gave a presentation in a rejointer to all the issues raised in the matrix. The issue matrix and responses can be accessed via the link: https://bit.ly/3If4tLA

KEPSA Deputy CEO Mr Victor Ogalo in his closing remarks urged the Authority to help promote the culture of working into prosperity and not taxing into prosperity because the latter will see many businesses close and thwart economic development. He requested the KRA team to respond to all the questions raised by the private sector noting their importance and assured the team of KEPSA’s support in finding the solutions to tax issues.