City revenue staff move to Times Tower as KRA takes over
Times Tower, the KRA headquarters. All City Hall staff engaged in revenue collection will on March 20, 2020 report here for redeployment as the authority formally takes over revenue collection at the Nairobi County government. PHOTO | DENNIS ONSONGO | NATION MEDIA GROUP
What you need to know:
- KRA was earlier this month gazetted to take over revenue collection at the county.
- The authority will manage City Hall’s internal revenue collection for the next two years.
- KRA comes in at a time when the county is struggling to raise its own source revenue collection.
All City Hall staff engaged in revenue collection will on Friday report to Times Tower for redeployment as the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) formally takes over collection of taxes at the Nairobi County government.
The taxman was earlier this month gazetted to take over revenue collection at the county but the process began on Monday in line with the Gazette notice of February 25, 2020 appointing KRA the principal revenue collector for the Nairobi City County government.
TWO YEARS
The appointment of KRA as the principal revenue collector by Nairobi Finance and Economic Planning Executive Allan Igambi paved the way for the taxman to start the process of managing City Hall’s internal revenue collection for the next two years.
KRA officers will have full and unlimited access to the city revenue processes, information, data and systems. They will also access records and documents necessary for the effective execution of KRA’s mandate.
"Kenya Revenue Authority has today commenced revenue collection for Nairobi City County government. This is in line with the Gazette Notice No 1609 of 25th February, 2020 under Article 5.5 appointing KRA the principal revenue collector for Nairobi County government," said a statement from the taxman.
HANDOVER
The handover was presided over by National Treasury Cabinet Secretary Ukur Yattani, National Treasury Chief Administrative Secretary Nelson Gaichuhie, Controller of Budget Margaret Nyakango and KRA Commissioner-General James Mburu.
Mr Yattani assured City Hall staff working in the revenue collection department that they will still have a huge part to play.
“There should no be cause for alarm as no one will lose their jobs. The decision to have KRA collect revenue on behalf of Nairobi County was arrived at following the signing of the deed of transfer between Nairobi County government and the State with the aim of enhancing efficiency and improving revenue collection,” said Mr Yattani.
On his part, Mr Igambi assured the national government that his office will work closely with the taxman by providing any relevant data or tools needed to make the process as seamless as possible.
REVENUE STREAMS
KRA will now oversee all streams of revenue and administer the taxes through the normal process of assessment, payment, accounting, remission and enforcement through both compliance and debt recovery.
However, it is not yet clear whether the authority will introduce any new mode of payments for use by Nairobi residents or it will stick to the one currently being used.
City Hall has been collecting revenue in partnership with the National Bank after parting ways with JamboPay in June last year.
KRA comes in at a time when the county is struggling to raise its own source revenue.
In the 2018/2019 financial year, City Hall posted Sh10.17 billion against a target of Sh15.21 billion. This was a slight improvement from the Sh10.1 billion raised in 2017/2018.
