KRA Defaulters to Pay Fine or Have PIN Deactivated

If you did not file you KRA returns by June 30, you risk having your KRA Personal Identification Number (PIN) deactivated.

After the just concluded filing of KRA returns, whose deadline is usually June 30 every year, the Kenya Revenue Authority realized that about 400,000 people did not file their returns.

The authority had expected four million Kenyans to file returns but by June 30, only 3.6 million Kenyans had done that.

The 400,000 who defaulted have been given a 15-day notice to pay the penalties or face enforcement if they fail to comply by July 30.

Individuals who did not meet the deadline are required to pay a fine of 2000 shillings or five percent of the tax payable in the year under review, or whichever is higher.

“Please make a payment of 2000 shillings by July 30, failure to which attracts collection enforcement measures,” said KRA in their notices.

For companies that defaulted, a fine of 20,000 shillings or five percent of the tax payable in the year under review, or whichever is higher.

According to the authority, the enforcement measures will be PIN deactivation, where defaulters who will not have paid the fine as required will be blocked from making transactions that require active number like salary.

KRA is empowered by law to order employers and agents to deduct tax dues and penalties from employees’ salary, wages or other remuneration.

Kenyans who already have a KRA PIN but are not employed, are also required to file their annual returns.

KRA has been failing to meet revenue collection targets set by the treasury, and filing annual returns have been its way of ensuring that Kenyans pay their taxes and that the authority manages to collect revenue from income tax.