•They further noted most clinics and healthcare facilities are small and medium enterprises that are running on basic manual bookkeeping
•This means they might not have the infrastructural and technical support in place to support healthcare services onboarding into the system
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Doctors have raised concerns that are likely to arise from the electronic invoicing requirements as per the Finance Act 2023.
Kenya Medical Association, Kenya Dental Association (KDA) executives, and officials from Kenya Association of Private Hospitals (KAPH) held a meeting with the Kenya Revenue Authority to discuss the way forward.
The doctors have raised concerns that the system might compromise patient confidentiality, data privacy and security which will arise from giving external access to a third party and having to provide sensitive information through medical services invoices.
“Healthcare services are unique and involve several stakeholders, making integration within the system complex and administration tedious and impractical,” they said.
They further noted most clinics and healthcare facilities are small and medium enterprises that are running on basic manual bookkeeping.
This means they might not have the infrastructural and technical support in place to support healthcare services onboarding into the system.
“The system integration is costly and will not be afforded by many healthcare facilities and clinics,” they noted.
In addition, they are concerned that the use of invoices as evidence of income is misleading.
This, they said, will subject doctors and healthcare facilities to advanced taxes on income not earned leading to disruption in cash flows and operations.
In response, KRA has said the main goal of ETIMS is to provide a software solution to standardise non-VAT category products and services and ensure that the Government has access to the records.
The authority acknowledged the uniqueness of the different sectors saying it is open and willing to engage to come up with a system that considers the same.
“KRA complies with the Data Protection Act and will not require sensitive information through the ETIMS. The system outlines specific information required,” it explained.
It further noted that the authority is open to exploring alternative solutions that work better for the healthcare industry and allow KRA to achieve its goals.
KMA and KDA have reiterated their commitment to safeguarding the interests of healthcare professionals and maintaining the highest standards of patient-quality healthcare.
They said they will continue to actively engage KRA to ensure that the concerns raised are taken into consideration throughout the implementation of the tax management systems.