Reference is made to an article appearing in a local daily titled “Relief for consumers as KRA suspends new tax”.
The article is erroneous and misleading to the public.
Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) states the following:
1. The communication by KRA did not suspend any taxes on bottled water, juices, soda, and any other non-alcoholic beverages as well as cosmetics as claimed in the referenced article. Taxes are imposed by law and become effective by way of statute. KRA has no mandate to defer implementation of the same.
2. KRA postponed the implementation of Excisable Goods Management System (EGMS) which is a tool for accounting for excise production and traceability of excisable goods. This is not a tax.
3. The postponement was to enable manufacturers to complete installation of the system before a new go-live date is communicated.
4. Implementation of the EGMS system on production lines is ongoing at manufacturers’ premises and so far 91% of automated lines have been installed. The remaining constitutes of new production lines previously not mapped.
KRA shall communicate a new go-live date in due course.
Commissioner for Domestic Taxes
PRESS RELEASE 04/09/2019
