Models line up in a mock queue on Mombasa Road to demonstrate the frustration of filing tax returns manually during the launch of KRA’s online platform called iTax. PHOTO | SALATON NJAU |
The days of long queues are long gone, says the taxman in one of several company visits to promote an electronic system for filing tax returns called iTax.
In the words of Kenya Revenue Authority Commissioner-General John Njiraini, the electronic platform offers the taxpayer more benefits in terms of logistics and transparency in tax collection.
“Through iTax there is a promotion of equity, communication with taxpayer, and preventative impact on corruption, bribery and tax avoidance and evasion,” Mr Njiraini said as he popularised the system ahead of the June 30 deadline for filing returns.
The iTax system makes the taxpayer an expert of sorts. All the user needs to do is to enter earnings and statutory deductions, allowing the system to complete the remaining calculations, including any refund due. This transition promises to be a mixed bag of fortunes for small firms.
For companies that have embraced the system, the expense linked to hiring tax advisors has been cut by the self-assessment tool. But in a country where Internet penetration remains relatively low at 55 per cent, a number of taxpayers remained locked out of the system.
Those who have embraced iTax experienced a breakdown last week when a large number of taxpayers rushing to beat the statutory deadline clogged the system.
Still, other users like Jane Wangui are all praise for the system. Ms Wangui who owns a beauty saloon in Nairobi’s central business district, operates M-Pesa and photocopy shops in the same building. She says she has saved on journeys to Times Tower and piles of paperwork needed to keep up to date to avoid action from tax assessors.
“Well, for me and my business, we are saved the long trips and the stack of papers as proof of my paid taxes. I can now focus more on business. It is more time saving,” she said of iTax. “It is very convenient to file my returns.”
Taxpayers file their returns online through iTax without making copies of documents normally submitted at the KRA banking halls after waiting in long queues.
Lilian Milimu, a hotelier, praises the switch to online filing, saying she expects to witness “less drama from tax assessors who would have previously harassed her customers” as they demanded to see her documents.
“When the county officials come to my place looking for documents, they are sometimes hostile, scaring away customers, I hope this iTax by KRA will solve this mess.”
But for Edgar Ndiragu, a tax consultant, iTax has driven away dozens of clients who used to visit his office for financial advice. Many of his regular clients have dumped him for the electronic system which offers automatic calculation of detailed data.
“Before this automatic system by the revenue collector, I used to do all the calculations, keeping records and files of every company’s data. I was paid to do it but now my job is not looking up with this new advancement.”
For the taxman, innovations such as iTax not only promise to boost collections but also reduce human contact, which is key to ending corruption.
