KRA wants more tax attorneys

The Kenya Revenue Authority is holding consultations with the Attorney General for the recruitment of more prosecutors to tackle tax-related cases.

The authority has also reported major court victories following the earlier gazettement of six prosecutors.

In the last six months, KRA has won court cases with tax liabilities of over Sh220 million.

“Our measures to enhance ability to prosecute tax cases has started yielding positive results,” said senior deputy commissioner in charge of marketing and communication, Kennedy Onyonyi.

Enforcement

The six prosecutors were gazetted last year. All are qualified lawyers.

The authority has also had CID officers seconded to Times Tower under the Investigations and Enforcement department.

Mr Onyonyi said: “KRA also established a Business Intelligence Unit as a proactive measure to identify and deter tax frauds before they occur.” 

In one of the cases, a bank sought an injunction against KRA collecting Sh14.9 million in outstanding bond after it secured petroleum products on behalf of the collapsed Triton Petroleum Ltd.

Recently, Pili Management Consultants appealed against a High Court decision dismissing an application seeking to quash an urgency notice served upon a bank to collect Sh50 million which was found in the appellants account.

KRA was recently allowed to secure surrender of Sh3.3 million in taxes directed to an account held by a bank’s client. In another case, a man wants to stop KRA from collecting Sh61.4 million in VAT arrears.