KRA gets power to raid homes without police

“The authorised (KRA) officer shall have power to enter and search any premises or vessels and seize, collect and detain evidence and produce such evidence in any proceedings before a court of law or tax appeals tribunal,” the Bill says.

Raids are usually the last course of action that is taken if a suspected tax cheat ignores repeated requests to submit documentation or other materials.

KRA officers have traditionally enjoyed these powers but had to be accompanied by police officers for protection and support of investigations as well as prosecution of the cases in court or before a tax tribunal.

Police presence

Treasury secretary Henry Rotich last year amended the law and introduced new provisions that appeared to take away the KRA’s search and seizure powers while simultaneously dropping the requirement for police presence.

Section 7 of the Tax Procedures Act 2015, which was the effective law, simply states that KRA officers have the “powers, rights, privileges and the protection of a police officer.”

But it was unclear whether the KRA could raid premises alone and, more importantly, if its officers could use in court evidence carted away from raided premises.

The KRA, in an internal circular to its staff on Budget day, explained that the amendment through the latest Finance Bill would restore their powers and disengage them from having to work with the police.

“The proposal to amend Section 7 is to allow KRA officers to initiate prosecution and produce seized evidence in tribunal or court of law,” the circular says.

The new clause was to come into effect on April 3.

READ: Tax experts caution on KRA prosecution powers

Powers reinstated

The taxman’s lobbying to have its powers to raid premises reinstated comes at a time when the Treasury has set a high revenue target (Sh1.7 trillion) for the fiscal year beginning July.

The target, which is Sh300 billion more than the current year’s Sh1.4 trillion, is to help finance a Sh2.62 trillion budget that Mr Rotich submitted to Parliament last week.

While the police and the taxman have been working together for years, the internal circular to staff betrays a less than harmonious relationship between the two government agencies.

“This (amendment) will facilitate KRA officers in investigations to follow up their cases to conclusion without necessarily relying on police officers who often frustrated cases by non-appearance or misplacement of evidence,” the KRA said.

Frosty relations

The taxman’s frustrations with the police reflect the frosty relations that have characterised ordinary Kenyans’ dealings with law enforcement officers.

Last year, the Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA) released a report indicating that police officers regularly manipulate investigations in order to cover up crimes committed by their colleagues.

In other instances, police officers stand accused of being unprofessional in gathering and preservation of evidence, resulting in collapse of cases on technical grounds.

The KRA has recently been embroiled in tax disputes with big corporations like Keroche Breweries, Airtel and Imperial Bank as well as prominent politicians such as Mombasa Governor Hassan Joho.

Gross miscarriage

Law firm Anjarwalla & Khanna has warned that handing KRA officers prosecutorial powers will result in gross miscarriage of justice.

“While this (amendment) could be effective from the KRA’s perspective, it would lead to a conflict of interest as the KRA cannot be both a party to a High Court matter and at the same time the prosecutor,” the firm stated.

“More efficient co-operation between the KRA and the National Police Service should be explored to enable the KRA to achieve its objectives.”