The government accumulated an extra Sh4 billion in tax refund claims by businesses in the six months between May and October 2023, pushing the overall unpaid amount to Sh16.3 billion, and adding a squeeze on traders already scorched by liquidity challenges.
The tax refund claims were mainly in respect to value-added tax (VAT) which accounted for 83 percent of the claims, the rest being claims related to income tax, the National Treasury reported in the 2024 Budget Policy Statement (BPS).
