The job of commissioner general of Kenya Revenue Authority has been advertised, paving way for the recruitment of another chief of the taxation authority.
John Njiraini, who has been at the helm of KRA for a total six years in two terms of three years each, got an extension in 2017 after agreeing to forfeit his leave days. He is expected to vacate office at the end of June. Njiraini reached the mandatory retirement age of 60 on December 19, 2017.
The tax collection firm has seen progress during the tenure of Njiraini, with revenues growing every year. They have never met their revenue targets except in 2013/2014 financial year when it surpassed targets by Sh100 million to bag Sh963.78billion against the target of Sh963.7 billion.
In 2012, the taxman collected Sh707.4 billion, missing government target by Sh10 billion.
For the first time, the taxman hit the Sh1.001 trillion revenue collections in 2015, increasing the targets in yearly budgets.
The bar went higher in 2016 after collections rose to Sh1.2 trillion, while in the 2016/2017 financial year, Treasury received Sh1.36 trillion compared to a target of Sh1.41 trillion.
During his time, Njiraini has embraced technology in a bid to increase the number of Kenyans remitting their taxes. The launch of the iTax platform has enabled more people to remit their VAT and PAYE returns, with 4 million Kenyans expected to remit returns by end of June.
It is during his tenure last year that raids on warehouses and traders to end the entry of fake commodities picked up but has since lost steam. Misreporting and false declaration of goods to be taxed at points of entry have also been exposed, with dishonest Kenyans nabbed.
He also came up with measures to negotiate with traders in a bid to include them into payment of tax, while the continuing headache still remains to capture all landlords so that they can remit their payments on the platform.
