Report Showing Total Tax Contribution of the Kenya Banking Sector Launched

PwC Kenya in partnership with Kenya Bankers Association (KBA) has released a report on Total Tax Contribution of the Kenya Banking Sector.

The report the first of its kind in Kenya outlines the tax contribution of the banking sector in forms of taxes borne by the banks such as corporation tax and irrecoverable VAT, and taxes collected as an agent of government such as PAYE, excise duty and withholding tax.

The report covers the 2017 and 2018 financial years and involved 38 banks and microfinance institutions which made a total tax contribution of 108.1 billion shillings and 99 billion shillings in 2017 and 2018 respectively. This demonstrated the critical contribution of the industry to taxes.

Titus Mukora, Tax Partner at PwC Kenya, said the purpose of the study was to quantify the tax contributions and draw connections between taxes and economic developments such as the interest rate caps and the adoption of technology by banks.

“Our analysis uses the Total Tax Contribution framework, where tax contribution is segmented into taxes borne and taxes collected. Taxes borne are those which are direct costs to a business such as corporation tax and irrecoverable VAT. Taxes collected are those that a business collects from taxpayers on behalf of the government such as PAYE and withholding tax,” said Mr. Mukora.

According to the report, in the two years, banks contributed a total of Ksh207.2 billion in taxes. However, there was a decline in tax contribution from 2017 to 2018 attributable to a reduction in taxes borne by banks, and in particular, a reduction of corporation tax paid. This was a result of low profits reported in 2017 relative to 2016.

“The reduction in 2017 profits corresponds with the full year of interest rate cap coupled with a prolonged electioneering period,” the report states.

The result was large corporate tax over-payments in 2017 were utilized against the 2018 corporate tax due leading to a decline in corporate taxes paid in 2018.

The decline in taxes arising from declined profitability in 2017 is reflected in the reported year on year decline of the industry’s net income (of – 4.79 percent) for the period 2016 to 2017. This is also reflected in the decline in the growth of net assets in the sector in 2017 of 6.8 percent down from an 11 percent growth in the previous year.

The report shows that taxes collected grew by 10% from 2017 to 2018 (46.1 billion shillings to 50.7 billion shillings). This growth was largely due to a 40 percent increase in excise duty which resulted from an increase in excisable fees and commissions charged by banks to customers as well as an increase in the excise duty rate charged by the sector from 10 percent to 20 percent within 2018.

The report further shows that, for every Ksh4 of corporation tax paid in Kenya, approximately Ksh1 was paid by the banking sector. This translates to 26 percent of the corporate taxes collected by the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA).

Kenya Bankers Association (KBA) CEO Dr. Habil Olaka while speaking during the launch said they were pleased that PwC has underscored their findings from KBA’s internal review. He said KBA’s shared value report has understated the industry’s tax contribution, and PwC has facilitated in providing an even clearer picture in terms of how banks lead in the area of tax compliance and contribution to the national budget.

“Banks operate in a highly regulated environment and this has led to very high levels of transparency. When transparency levels are elevated, inevitably the levels of tax compliance will be very high and the relative and absolute quantum of tax paid to the Government is enhanced. We, as an Association, are proud to be at the forefront of tax transparency and compliance in the corporate sector,” said Dr. Olaka.

In 2018, the financial services sector’s contribution to GDP growth ranged from 0.1% to 0.2%. Having in mind that the sector is not a significant driver of GDP growth, the high corporate tax contribution is also an indication of high levels of regulation and compliance in the industry.