Ruto goes after landlords within Nairobi metropolitan area to exploit tax avenues
Ruto goes after landlords within Nairobi metropolitan area in a bid to increase the country’s tax anenues/base in the real estate sector.
The government of President William Ruto has rolled out plans to register landlords within Nairobi County in a move to raise more money to finance the 2023/24 budget.
The Ruto administration has emphasized the real estate sector as one of the financial opportunities worth pursuing in its efforts to broaden the nation’s tax base.
The registration exercise is set to commence on Wednesday, October 18.
Landlords from other parts of the Nairobi metropolitan region, like Syokimau in Machakos, will also take part in the project.
Landlords who were targeted for the exercise were also advised to work with government representatives by making all necessary documentation available.
“The taxman officers conducting the exercise will identify themselves using their identification cards which can be verified by dialing the USSD code *572#, ” read the notice in part.
Landlords are required by law to pay rental income tax equal to 10% of the gross rent collected from tenants.
The taxman seeks to close all loopholes and prevent situations in which property owners avoid paying taxes to the government.
Rigathi Gachagua, the deputy president, recently disclosed that the new administration was searching for more ways to raise money without increasing commodity taxes.
Additionally, one of the issues that dominated debates before the elections on August 9 was broadening the tax base.
“The president and I sat with the taxman for seven hours, and we parted at midnight to agree on how we’ll collect more revenue.
“We want to collect about Ksh3 trillion by end of the year to fund our current and, development budget,” Gachagua stated.
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