Time to go digital with your taxes: introducing iTax

Taxes. Not many love to hear that word. But as Kenyans become more and more interested in the development agenda, it is the one thing that we cannot avoid. We all have a responsibility to pay taxes as citizens. If we truly want our businesses to flourish, our infrastructure to improve and our country to develop, we ought to pay our taxes.

But paying taxes can be quite stressful and inconveniencing. We are required by the law to file individual tax returns in June. Who wants to spend the whole day in a queue at Times Tower? In any case, chances are you will not be on holiday in June. You cannot afford to waste a whole day filing your tax returns. You could lose your job if employed or lose out on a potential sale if you are an entrepreneur. That’s where iTax comes in.

iTax is a system that has been developed by KRA to replace the current KRA Online system. All you need to register for iTax is your e-mail address. You will just provide your email address and a unique password and you are ready. “Those that already have a KRA PIN only need to provide their PIN to log in,” one of the KRA officials told bloggers yesterday.

iTax allows one to update their tax registration details, file tax returns using Microsoft Excel or Open Office, register all tax payments and make status enquiries with real-time monitoring of their ledger/account. iTax has already been rolled out countrywide. Registered taxpayers are already filling VAT, INCOME TAX and PAYE  at their own convenience.

According to ICPAK, the professional body for the taxation experts, call the accountants, iTax will help simplify the tax process, shorten time taken to extract data & information on revenue, reduce time taxpayers take when dealing with KRA, improve efficiency and effectiveness while still enhancing the ability of KRA/Taxpayers to account for taxes. It sounds like a win-win situation.

KRA themselves say that some of the advantages of this system are;

• Access to the taxpayer ledger including access by employees on their PAYE deductions.
• Real time update of the taxpayer’s ledger upon filing of returns and making payment.
• iTax is accessible at the comfort of the taxpayer.
• Numerous payment channels – more Banks are being recruited to make payment of Domestic Taxes more convenient.
• Simpler domestic tax return filing. The returns are based on the excel format.
• Time saving; a. Reduced queuing at the banking hall. b. Swift application and processing of tax related services e.g Tax Compliance Certificates, Refunds, Amendments, waivers, tax exemptions etc . . .
• Reduction of Refunds backlog by allowing taxpayers to utilize approved refunds to offset other tax liabilities.
• Communication via e-mail and SMS notifications upon completion of transactions.
• Electronic generation of certificates, i.e. PIN, Withholding Tax certificates, Exemption Certificates etc.
• iTax returns are excel based and therefore is easy to use. Excel also accommodates several hundred thousand columns and rows of data.
• Inconvenience caused to taxpayers through Request for records by KRA officers will be greatly reduced.

To log in to iTax , go to KRA website www.kra.go.ke. On the website you will see the iTax portal banner. Click on it to access the iTax portal or https://itax.kra.go.ke  In case of any query, you can reach the Nairobi station 0202398470, 0771628105, 0202398526 or dtdonlinesupport@kra.go.ke

KRA is also offering free training for small businesses. Go ahead and contact them dear Entrepreneur.

Do you want to get started on this system too? Click here to register or learn more.