SBM Bank Kenya is fighting off a Sh737 million tax penalty from the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA), which relates to an agency contract the taxman had with the lender when it was trading as Fidelity Commercial Bank (FCB) before its acquisition by Mauritia’s SBM Group seven years ago.
The lender, which in May 2017 entered Kenya through the acquisition of FCB, has disclosed in its latest annual report that the KRA is demanding the amount as penalties on taxes collected by FCB on behalf of its customers in 2016. The amount was collected under a service-level agreement between the KRA and FCB.
