CS Range Rover among 121 vehicles deregistered by KRA over tax evasion

The Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) has deregistered 121 vehicles whose owners are said to have acquired fraudulent registration and evaded tax in the process.

Among those listed for deregistration include Water and Irrigation Cabinet Secretary Eugene Wamalwa’s Range Rover (registered as an Isuzu truck), which has been held at the KRA’s Railways Club yard in Nairobi since June.

Mr Wamalwa’s personal assistant, Kizito Temba, who had earlier told the Nation that the registration problem was caused by the KRA as the error could have been detected during the transfer of the vehicle's log book to his boss, could not be reached for comment over the matter.

The taxman, who issued a notice in June calling for the 124 vehicles to be presented to the agency for clearance, made the move after their owners failed to respond.

In a joint public notice with the National Transport and Safety Authority published Thursday, the KRA listed the 121 vehicles whose owners are suspected to have evaded duty amounting to Sh500 million and urged the owners to surrender their registration documents for cancellation.

“Pursuant to the Public Notice published on 10th June 2016, the Authority hereby invokes Section 6 (10) and Section 6(11) of the Traffic Act, Cap. 403 Laws of Kenya and withdraws the registration numbers with effect from the date of this notice.

“The Authority has reasonable ground to believe the motor vehicle registration numbers have been obtained in error, fraudulently or in a manner contrary to the provisions of the Traffic Act,” the joint notice read.

Only 12 vehicles were presented to the KRA for inspection after the first notice was issued. Only three vehicles were cleared.

The other nine vehicles are being held by the KRA.

“Those who have not presented the vehicles continue to violate the law and may be charged for being in possession of unaccustomed goods among other violations,” the KRA acting commissioner in charge of investigations and enforcement told the Nation in an emailed response to our inquiries.

A motor vehicle syndicate has been blamed for the smuggling of vehicles into the country that are older that eight years (the legal limit) and for tax evasion.

The KRA said it is investigating whether its staff were involved in the dirty trade.

The vehicles are mostly those stolen overseas while others pass the port as transit cargo destined for Uganda or South Sudan and hence evading duty.

The cargo is then diverted mid-way between the port and the purported destinations and fake number plates or those taken from accident vehicles are affixed to them to them.