KRA has been slammed for spending millions of taxpayers money to buy space on newspapers to address the Keroche breweries matter.
According to the former LSK president Nelson Havi, the taxman spent about Kshs 4 million to advertise on The Daily Nation and The Standard newspapers.
“Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) has today used Kshs 4M of your tax to buy 4 pages of a public notice space in Daily Nation and The Standard, to explain to you why it shut down the business of Keroche Breweries Ltd, to collect tax from it. Why is the Commissioner-General in office?” Havi shared on Twitter.
Keroche and KRA are involved in a tax row with the brewer claiming it owes the taxman Kshs322 million, which the company intended to pay on a 24 monthly instalments.
In a statement last week, the CEO Tabitha Karanja claimed that KRA refused their offer demanding the tax arrears be paid in 6 monthly instalments and further denying them the opportunity to discuss the matter and reach a consensus.
The company has been on an on and off operation with the owners complaining that with the kind of operation they will not be able to manage paying the taxes.
They appealed to president Uhuru Kenyatta to intervene so that the dispute can be settled and the operations in the brewer can return to normal.
Through a publication on The Daily Nation and The Standard, KRA however shared their side of the story revealing that the tax row with Keroche dates to 2006 and the debt has accrued to a total 22.7 billion
Regarding the current taxes that Keroche claimed was the cause of their recent closure, KRA said that the brewer owes them a total of KKshs351,000,000 which it has withheld since January 2021.
“It is imperative to note that this is principal tax which Keroche withheld for the period of January 2021 to date and has not remitted the same to KRA,” part of the statement read
According to KRA, Keroche has been charging its consumers Excise Duty Tax and VAT through the sale of their products but has not been remitting the same to KRA.
KRA further said that the brewer did not honor any of the payment plans that had been agreed by the two parties to ensure that the tax arrears are met.
“The first plan agreed in July 2021 was not honored, the second plan agreed in December 2021 was not honored. Further in January 2022, Keroche requested for a review of the plan and the same was granted in writing but still not honored,” KRA said.
KRA [@KRACorporate] bought a two page ad in today’s papers to make sure their side of the story vs Keroche is heard. pic.twitter.com/LzTqJXMNSx
— Mwango Capital (@MwangoCapital) March 9, 2022
A number of Kenyans however feel that the amount KRA spend on advertising on the public notice spaces would have been helpful elsewhere. Others however say that there was nothing wrong with the taxman buying the space on the newspapers since they are owned by Kenyan companies.
“The Daily Nation is a Kenyan newspaper owned by a Kenyan company. Any money paid to the company goes back to the economy. There is nothing wrong with KRA explaining itself in the newspaper since the Keroche issue is of public interest,” Maria Mutheru said.
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