November 1, 2023 Kenya Revenue Authority issues guidelines on tax amnesty application process
The Kenyan Revenue Authority (KRA) has issued guidelines on the implementation of a tax amnesty program introduced under the Kenyan Finance Act 2023. The Act introduced Section 37E into the Tax Procedures Act, which requires the KRA to refrain from recovering historical outstanding penalties and interest. The amnesty applies where the principal tax has been settled under the following circumstances:
Implementation The KRA's implementation guidelines for implementing the tax amnesty program are detailed below. a. Eligibility Category 1 taxpayers Category 1 taxpayers have settled the principal tax on their historical tax obligations of up to 31 December 2022. These taxpayers are entitled to an automatic amnesty of any accrued penalties and interest. Category 2 taxpayers These are taxpayers who have outstanding principal tax for historical periods up to 31 December 2022. They are required to apply for the amnesty coupled by a payment plan for the outstanding principal tax. The outstanding principal tax must be settled by 30 June 2024. However, penalties and interest are excluded from the amnesty process if they:
b. Tax amnesty process The amnesty application process may be accessed either by submitting a hardcopy (paper) application or and by utilizing the online tax return filing system, i-Tax. The taxpayer is required to assess existing liabilities, namely, principal tax, penalties and interest for historical periods up to 31 December 2022. Where a taxpayer has an outstanding principal tax, they should ensure full payment of the principal tax by 30 June 2024. c. What happens when one is already enrolled for a Voluntary Tax Disclosure Programme (VTDP) If a taxpayer had already kickstarted a VTDP process that has not been fully finalized, the taxpayer is required to liaise with the KRA if they had already paid existing principal tax. d. Timeframe The amnesty process is active up to 30 June 2024. Taxpayers are encouraged to take up the amnesty to regularize their historical tax position. ——————————————— For additional information with respect to this Alert, please contact the following: Ernst & Young (Kenya), Nairobi
Published by NTD's Tax Technical Knowledge Services group; Carolyn Wright, legal editor | ||||