- Ruto’s administration wants KRA to scale up revenue collection efforts to attain Sh3 trillion in the next financial year.
- This is part of Ruto’s economic turnaround plan.
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The Kenya Kwanza has unveiled its first draft Budget Policy Statement (BPS) which sets out the priority programs, policies and reforms the new administration intends to undertake.
In the proposals published by the Treasury, President William Ruto’s administration seeks to have KRA scale up revenue collection efforts to attain Sh3 trillion in the next financial year.
This is part of Ruto’s economic turnaround plan.
To realize this, the government as per the draft seeks to undertake a combination of both tax administration and tax policy reforms.
Administratively, the tax men aim at reducing the VAT gap from 38.9 to 19.8 percent and also reduce the corporate tax gap from 32.2 to 30.0 percent.
It also proposes to integrate the tax system with Telecommunications and expand the tax base in the informal sector among others.
On policy issues, Ruto’s administration has said it will push to have the national tax policy and the medium-term revenue strategy finalized.
This, the Treasury says, will guide and enhance the administrative efficiency of the tax system, provide consistency and entrench predictability in the tax system.
“The Medium Term Revenue Strategy will provide a comprehensive approach of undertaking effective tax system reforms for boosting tax revenues and improving the tax system over the medium term,” the document reads.
It has said it will also reduce tax exemptions, roll out an end-to-end e-procurement system and streamline the initiation, execution, delivery and sustainability of public investment projects.
An approved BPS is submitted to the Parliament, by the 15th of February each year.
Parliament shall, not later than 14 days after the submission table and discuss a report containing its recommendations and pass a resolution to adopt it with or without amendments.
Treasury has already called on members of the public to give their feedback on the draft.
“We are seeking the views of the public, the Commission on Revenue Allocation, county governments, Controller of Budget, Parliamentary Service Commission, Judicial Service Commission, and other interested parties,” read the statement.