County proposes heavy fines for non-payment of levies

Seeking to raise its revenues, the Nyandarua County administration wants to impose hefty fines on workers who help residents to avoid paying levies.

The 2016 County Finance Bill, which went through its second reading in the assembly last week, proposes that any employee who falsifies documents to abet non-payment of levies will be fined Sh200,000 or be jailed for one year.

In a policy paper underpinning the Finance Bill, finance executive Nderi Ndiani said the county is in the process of automating revenue collection to improve efficiency.

The bill also proposes that any county staff who collect revenue "without authority and fails to submit the same within three days will be fined Sh25,000 or be jailed for three months".

Governor Daniel Waithaka Mwangi is seeking to raise from local sources Sh430 million of its Sh5.5 billion budget for the current financial year.

The county expects to receive Sh4.7 billion from the national government through the equitable allocation fund.

Under the Bill, anyone who operates a business without a valid licence or permit will be fined Sh8,000 and Sh40,000 for a registered business.

Tenants who don't pay their rent by the fifth of every month for business premises or residential houses owned by the county will be charged five per cent of the compounded sum.

Owners of driving schools and computer colleges will pay an annual levy of Sh12,000, and firms intending to erect mobile phone masts on public or private land will fork out Sh90,000 and Sh74,000, respectively, yearly.

Financial institutions that operate ATM machines will pay Sh40,000 per ATM point.

Edited by Philip Momanyi