2 | NEWSFOCUS October 30, 2018 www.mygov.go.ke KRA to reward distinguished taxpayers during annual event This year’s ceremony will be held at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC) with President Kenyatta expected to preside BY DAVID KIMANI T he Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) is set to award payers that KRA has honoured in the past include two elderly taxpayers aged 113 and 101 for beating all odds to update their Personal Identification Numbers (PINs) on iTax. The two received Senior Tax Ambassador Award during the 2015 awards ceremony. This year’s ceremony will be held at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC). President Uhuru Kenyatta is expected to preside over the ceremony. The taxpayers’ month, traditionally observed in October, is a month-long series of activities dedicated to celebrating and appreciating compliant taxpayers from all sectors. Among the key activities that characterise the taxpaydistinguished taxpayers from across the country on Wednesday. Among distinguished taxers’ month include corporate social responsibility initiatives, visits to distinguished taxpayers, a tax summit among other key initiatives to appreciate the taxpayers for the crucial role they play in the economic development of the country.The 2018 taxpayers’ day will also see President Kenyatta unveil the Integrated Scanner Command Centre and commission the Regional Electronic Cargo Tracking System (RECTS). RECTS is an end to end President Uhuru Kenyatta (right) presents a Tax Ambassador award to John Macharia (centre) during the 2016 Taxpayers’ Day- looking on is the KRA Commissioner General John Njiraini and real time cargo monitoring system which tracks transit cargo from the port of Mombasa to the point of last destination.The technology, co-run by KRA and counterpart tax agencies in Uganda and Rwanda, has significantly improved cargo tracking of transit goods along the northern corridor. As a result, incidences of cargo diversion and dumping have substantively been curbed. Diverted and The Regional Electronic Cargo Tracking System, RECTS is an end to end and real time cargo monitoring system which tracks transit cargo from the port of Mombasa to the point of last destination. KRA Commissioner General John Njiraini fixes a cargo tracking device on a truck during the launch of the Regional Electronic Cargo Tracking System (RECTS) in March 2017 dumped cargo used to pose unfair competition to goods in the local market. Before RECTS RECTS, KRA officials would literally escort cargo from the port of Mombasa all the way to the border before passing on the escort baton to neighbouring customs authorities. Transit time has reduced significantly especially because the handover from one customs authority to the other no longer takes place. In a past interview, KRA Commissioner General Mr John Njiraini said that the nonintrusive capability to monitor cargo movement provided by this system has not only drastically cut down opportunities for diversion but has in addition markedly improved cargo transit times through elimination of driver-initiated delays. He also noted that the RECTS has been extended to the tracking of sensitive exports, especially tobacco and spirits which have also been the target of dumping in the Kenyan market. Is that a message from the taxman? Don’t ignore, if in doubt do confirm One such channel is the contact centre which can be reached on 0711099999, another is callcentre@kra. go.ke BY GRACE WANDERA C ommunication is arguably one of the most important tools in the day-to-day life of man that has remarkably evolved over the years. The tool has evolved from drum beating, smoke signals, ravens and blowing of horns to internet-based communication in the modern-day world. Although different scholars have defined communication in divergent ways, the common denominator in all the definitions is the exchange of information by speaking, writing or any other medium so long as the exchange takes place between two or more parties. Someone recently joked on social media that they only take two pieces of communication more seriously than all the others. According to the social media user, the first piece of communication they never dillydally with is the ‘battery low warning’ on their electronic gadgets while the second is when oncoming matatu drivers signal them to slow down on the highway. What followed the aforementioned post was a string of reactions and counter-reactions. Amid the flood of hilarious comments, there was a particular one that really caught my attention; it appealed to the owner of the post to include ‘communication from a tax authority’ in the list of their ‘pieces of communication they take more seriously’. Although the post was meant to be hilarious, I couldn’t agree more with the person who observed that communication from a tax authority should not be ignored. Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA), being the tax administrator in Kenya, has over the years been in close contact with the taxpayers whenever a need arises. Thanks to modern technology that KRA has been leveraging on, communication with the taxpayers has now become even easier and more efficient. One of such technologies that have really come through for KRA is the Customer Relationship Management Solution (CRM) which has enabled an end-to-end communication with the taxpayers. Among the messages that KRA sends out to taxpayers include constant reminders on key tax payment due dates and defaulter messages in case a taxpayer defaults on a given tax obligation. But the million-dollar question is, how do we handle communication sent by a tax agency, such as KRA? First, let’s acknowledge that we live in an era where impostors and fraudsters have pulled up their socks to bring out their Agame in hoodwinking unsuspecting members of the public. Let’s assume you received an email from KRA informing you that you have not been filing your tax returns for a given period, yet deep down you are sure your returns have been filed. Chances are high you might be tempted to dismiss the message on grounds the sender is an impostor or a fraudster out there on a mission to hoodwink you. However, before you conclude on who the sender is and their motive, it is advisable to take some time to verify with KRA. KRA has invested in various channels of communication through which members of the public can verify such information. One such channel is the contact centre which can be reached on 0711099999 or callcentre@kra.go.ke. A walk to the nearest KRA office or Huduma Centre could also come in handy for a taxpayer who needs to verify the authenticity of any communication that they might have supposedly received from KRA. The most common instances when KRA sends out messages to a taxpayer is when a taxpayer fails to file a tax return for a given tax obligation they registered on their Personal Identification Numbers (PINs). You realise that failure to file a tax return attracts a penalty which varies depending on the type of tax obligation registered on the said taxpayer’s PIN. These types of instances, though rare, happen to taxpayers who trust third parties to file their tax returns on their behalf. In the worst case scenarios, the third parties end up not honouring the trust bestowed on them and consequently fail to file the returns. Such a taxpayer therefore rests assured that their tax returns went through, until the taxman reminds them to file the very tax return! Before it gets to this, taxpayers who seek third party assistance during tax returns filing have a key tool at their disposal to verify if their returns were indeed filed; iTax.
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