Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) recorded the highest revenue performance rate since the beginning of the Financial Year 2020/2021 after collecting Kshs 144.6 billion in March 2021 surpassing the revenue target.
KRA Commissioner General Githii Mburu terms the performance outstanding, noting that the taxpayer collected Kshs 127.7 billion during the month of February 2021.
Despite the slow economic progression, Mburu says KRA registered 11.2% revenue growth collecting a surplus of Kshs 6.6 billion in March 2021. This was the fourth month running that KRA posted an improved and above target performance since December 2020.
He says the revenue performance has been enhanced by the sustained implementation of compliance efforts, revenue enhancement initiatives and improved service delivery to taxpayers.
For the fourth month running, Customs & Border Control (C&BC) Department recorded excellent performance after achieving a growth of 47.3% with a revenue collection of Kshs 60.751 billion, the second highest monthly collection in its history.
“This is an improved performance compared to the month of February when C&BC collected Kshs 51.3 billion reflecting a growth of 24.9%. Customs & Border Control surpassed the revenue target after collecting a revenue surplus of Kshs 14.409 billion in March 2021, achieving a performance rate of 131.1%,” said Mburu in a statement.
Domestic Taxes registered a performance rate of 91.4% after collecting Kshs 83.378 billion, hurt by Corporation Tax which registered a decline of 35.2%, driven by significant decline of 62.8% in the ICT sector.
PAYE registered improved performance of 110.7% with collections of Kshs 34.595 billion accumulating a surplus of Kshs 3.339 billion. KRA says the performance was boosted by revenue collection in the public sector which had a growth of 5.7%.
Withholding Tax registered revenue growth of 15.4% with a collection of Kshs 9.418 billion which implied performance rate of 106.0%.
Domestic Excise Duty recorded a performance rate of 61.9% after collecting Kshs 4.521 billion.
Domestic Value Added Tax (VAT) collection amounted to Kshs 17.017 billion registering improved growth of 4.2% compared to 1.6% growth in February 2021. This was equivalent to a performance rate of 81.3%.
The Commissioner General says KRA is implementing a number of revenue enhancement measures such as revamping the audit function, tax base expansion and enhanced debt programme, implementation of post clearance audits, comprehensive audit of all exemptions, enhanced scanning and intelligence led verification of cargo at the ports of entry.
He says KRA has also intensified its fight against tax evasion to ensure that no revenue is lost.