The Kenya Revenue Authority’s ongoing spirited onslaught against tax evasion has attracted praise and castigation in equal measure.
While there are quarters that see it as a saviour of the country’s economic independence, there are those who, unfortunately, see it as a platform for settling scores. The latter perception, which has been advanced by a few people is, by all means, misleading.
The running of a state relies heavily on revenue collected from tax. It is from the revenue coffers that the government manages to cater for crucial amenities, which individual citizens cannot manage to pay on their own including salaries of public servants.
Recently, Kenya has been borrowing heavily to take care of the deficit budget resulting from revenue shortfalls year in and out. Unfortunately, the shortfalls have been blamed on the taxman for perennially missing revenue targets. Despite the blame on the taxman, research shows that globally, governments have been losing colossal amounts of revenue running into billions through tax evasion.
Consequently, tax agencies have been struggling to raise enough revenue that can comfortably finance the yearly budgets. Efforts by KRA to stamp out evasion are a noble initiative which needs the entire country’s support. In fact, Kenyans who pay their taxes duly should be on the frontline drumming support for the fight against fraud.
The success of this battle is the only remedy at hand to redeem the country’s economic stability. As the KRA commissioner general once put it during a TV interview, stamping out tax evasion means not only more revenue for the government but also a future that could see reduced tax rates.
Without any doubt, none of us would mind paying fewer taxes.
Kitui
