Treasury unveils plan to start spying on your mobile money transactions following Ruto’s directive
Treasury to start monitoring your mobile money transactions following Ruto's directive to expand the tax revenue base
Treasury to start monitoring your mobile money transactions following Ruto’s directive to expand the tax revenue base.
The National Treasury on Wednesday, January 18, 2023, presented a draft 2023 Budget Policy Statement that intended to close tax loopholes in response to President William Ruto’s order on November 21, 2022, requesting government agencies to raise the country’s tax bracket.
The head of state stated in his command that while tax collection has improved over time, there is still room for the nation to collect more than Ksh2.03 trillion.
Treasury responded by outlining measures that will make sure tax cheats are made to pay their fair share in the draft 2023 Budget Policy Statement.
“As part of the economic turnaround plan, the government will scale up revenue collection efforts to Ksh 3.0 trillion in the FY 2023/24 and Ksh 4.0 trillion over the medium term.
“Close monitoring of payments from the government to ensure correct taxes are declared and paid will be done accordingly,” the draft 2023 Budget Policy Statement read.
In order to meet this goal, mobile money transactions will be able to be tracked by government agencies in charge of tax enforcement and collection.
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In order to facilitate surveillance, the government plans to connect mobile money systems operating within the purview of telecommunications corporations with tax collecting and enforcement organizations.
“The Government will undertake to roll out electronic Tax Invoice Management System (eTIMS), reduction of Corporate Income Tax (CIT) gap from 32.2 percent to 30.0 percent of the potential as envisaged in the KRA Corporate Plan and integration of tax system with the Telecommunication companies (Telcos),” the draft 2023 Budget Policy Statement read.
In the draft 2023 Budget Policy Statement, Treasury is working on measures to arrest taxes that are lost in counterfeit businesses.
“The prevalence of counterfeit excisable products and stamps in the market will be addressed through the formation of a multi-agency team to investigate the source of counterfeits and take necessary action,” the draft 2023 Budget Policy Statement read.
Members of the National Police Service (NPS), the National Intelligence Service (NIS), and other agencies will use the information available to be more effective in their activities.
“Data and intelligence-driven field operations to take down counterfeiters; robust and effective market surveillance; regular reviews and upgrades of the security features of stamps and rolling out new excise stamps should it be deemed necessary,” the draft 2023 Budget Policy Statement read.
Treasury is optimistic that government organizations won’t fall short of a presidential mandate that called for an increase in the top tax bracket at the federal level.
“Kenya is a global leader in financial innovation with access to formal financial services standing at 83.7 percent in 2022 largely attributed to the progress made by Kenya to expand financial access through various channels including mobile money financial platforms,” the draft 2023 Budget Policy Statement read.
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