As the national government continues to delay county remittances, leading to delayed salaries, postponed development projects, and recurrent grounding, few counties are able to collect anything substantive to meet their budgetary needs.
Apart from Nairobi County which collects a considerable amount of money aided by its almost 100 percent urban area and being the capital, and Narok County which earns billions in annual income from tourism, the rest of the counties do not have a worthwhile adventure in this space.
Kisumu County, for example, is said to have the potential to raise Sh2 billion in own-source revenue. But in the last two financial years, the country has collected Sh1 billion on average.
There are simple fintech payment solutions that can solve these challenges.
A case in point is the use of the Point Of Sale (PoS) machine to collect parking fees and small traders’ fees that has a receipt only as proof of payment without inter-connectivity.
Amounts collected on the ground will reflect in real-time at a central point. The gadgets should also be able to pinpoint the exact coordinates of the small businesses and coordinates whenever daily billings occur.
This technology deployment would give us data on how many SME businesses exist, why the figure has disparities and if any, capture any new businesses that sets up and the ones that are closing.
This type of data can inform policy decisions at the counties.
The Fintech Association of Kenya in their Strategic Plan 2022-2027 has in its plan, regular knowledge sharing, strengthening of existing relationships and most importantly play an important role in deepening of fintech knowledge and participate in government schemes that will enhance revenue maximisation.
PAYE Tax Calculator
Note: The results are not exact but very close to the actual.
