The Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) confirmed on Friday that traders will have to show proof of order and payment for the new Internet-enabled electronic tax registers (ETRs) before the Sunday, 31 August deadline, as the revenue agency tries to work around supply issues. “The Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) would like to remind the public and all VAT-registered taxpayers that the deadline for the transition from the old electronic tax records (ETRs) to the updated ones is July 31, 2022. The KRA appreciates the taxpayers who have adapted so far and those who are working towards doing so,’ the authority said on Friday.
The new ETR will be connected via the Internet to the KRA’s systems, allowing it to monitor all transactions at the point of sale and merchants’ billing systems.
In addition to the updated ETR software, merchants will have to obtain software for the devices.
“KRA’s idea is to use technology to track sales in real time. So when someone makes a sale, they will know and the buyers’ iTax page will also be updated,’ Nikhil Hira, tax expert and business partner at Kody Africa LLP told Kenyan newspaper The Nation.
The new technology will allow the KRA to better monitor traders’ transactions, with the aim of minimising revenue losses and corruption incidents and replenishing the state coffers, which is one of the ways the government is reducing public debt.
Among the various innovations to fight corruption, the KRA recently stated that tax employees will have to wear webcams in order to monitor any illegal activities.
