A Treasury proposal to have Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) officers initiate prosecutions and produce evidence in a court of law could lead to conflict of interest.
Tax experts at Anjarwalla and Khanna Advocates, in a legal note on Finance Bill 2017 set to be discussed in the National Assembly, say while this could be helpful to KRA, the taxman should not be a party to a High Court matter and also the prosecutor.
The Bill proposes an amendment to section 7 of the Tax Procedures Act (TPA) to empower KRA to initiate prosecution and produce seized evidence in the Tax Appeals Tribunal or court of law.
“More efficient co-operation between the KRA and the police should be explored to enable the KRA to achieve its objectives,” the tax experts said.
Section 7 of the TPA stipulates how KRA officers should collect, recover and refund tax. The Bill also proposes to extend the tax amnesty by six months from December 31, 2017 to June 30, 2018.
“A realistic period of between two to three years should be considered to provide ample time to taxpayers to re-organise their affairs and make disposals like real estate where required,” they said.
