•Tribunal members would be required to be persons of high moral character and integrity in line with Chapter Six of the Constitution.
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The National Treasury will no longer have powers to appoint a tax appeals tribunal, if the Tax Appeals Tribunal Bill, 2021 is passed by Parliament.
Instead, the team will now be appointed by the Judicial Service Commission and serve on a full-time basis.
In the proposed amendments, the tribunal shall consist of a chairperson and between 15-20 members of whom five – up to a maximum of nine, will be advocates of the High Court of Kenya.
The chairperson, will have to be a person qualified to sit as a judge of the High Court. The bills has been brought before the House by Majority leader Amos Kimunya.
The Tax Appeals Tribunal Act, 2013 was assented to by the President in November 2013 but its commencement date delayed by over a year and the Act became operational in April 2015.
In the proposed amendments, Members will be required to be persons of high moral character and integrity in line with Chapter Six of the Constitution.
Degree in law, business, finance, public finance, economics, insurance or related discipline – with ten years experience, will be factored in the choice of tribunal members.
Tax agents and public officers are ineligible members, while those who retire from Kenya Revenue Authority will wait five years to qualify.
Tribunal members must have met their tax obligations, have clean criminal record, and never adjudged bankrupt.
The JSC will declare a vacancy in the office of the chairperson and member within 14 days of the vacancy.
It will then invite applications from qualified persons for the vacancy in at least two dailies with national circulation.
JSC would then appoint a panel to select candidates for chairperson or member; and shall at its first meeting appoint a chairperson and vice-chairperson.
The selection panel will thus consider the applications, shortlist and publish the names and qualifications of all applicants within seven days.
Within 14 days from publication of shortlisted applicants, the panel shall conduct interviews and select three persons qualified as chairperson or member for each vacant position.
The names, the bill says, would be submitted to the JSC, which shall appoint the chairperson or member within seven days of receiving the names.
If rejected, the panel shall submit fresh nominations to the commission, following the provided procedure – with necessary modifications.
In the proposed law, there shall be a secretary to the tribunal appointed by the Public Service Commission, and will work with staff recruited competitively by PSC.
The Tribunal will be funded by monies allocated by Parliament, grants, donations, fees (Sh20,000 paid by appellants) as well as fines or any other charges imposed by the tribunal.
“The books of account of the Tribunal shall be audited by the Auditor General in accordance with the Public Audit Act, 2015,” the bill reads.
Tax appeals, should MPs pass the bill, will be heard within 90 days and would only be extended for a further 30 days.
It further provides that a person aggrieved by a decree or order can seek review within seven days as long the person has not challenged such order at the High Court.
The new law also provides the chairperson and members of the tribunal immunity from proceedings that may arise from the cases they handle.
“An action, suit, prosecution or any other proceeding, shall not be brought or instituted against a person who is or was a Chairperson, a member of the Tribunal or an officer of the Tribunal in respect of any act done or omitted to be done in good faith in the discharge of any function under this Act,” the bill reads.
The chairperson and the other members of the Tribunal appointed before the commencement of this Act shall continue to hold office for the unexpired duration of their term.
Other staff currently in post will continue to hold office until the Public Service Commission appoints staff of the tribunal.
Kimunya (Kipipiri MP) said the purpose of the bill is to address challenges affecting the performance of the tax appeals tribunal to facilitate expedition of tax disputes.
Salaries for the tribunal members will, however, be decided by the Treasury Cabinet Secretary in consultation with the Salaries and Remuneration Commission.