The Kenya Revenue Authority officials have now been allowed to go back to their ordinary way of raiding people’s premises and seizing property following a court order.
The taxman will now be visiting premises and taking documents of individuals suspected to be involved in tax cheats after a bench of three judges gave them a nod.
The three judges Justice Martha Koome, Fatuma Sichale, and Jamila Mohammed decided an appeal by the taxman to be allowed to deal with tax cheats since it was an issue of public interest.
“From our analysis of the matter and as demonstrated above, this is a unique case that has public interest bearing on the mandate of the applicant as a tax collection agency on behalf of the people of Kenya, “the judges said.
This was a thing of the past when a judge nullified some sections of the Tax Procedures Act in 2018, which allowed the seizure of property terming them unconstitutional.
Justice George Odunga said that sections 44(1) and (2), 60(10 and (3), and 59(4) of Tax procedures Act violated Article 31 (b) of Constitution, which guarantees people’s right not to have their possessions seized.
Section 44(1) and (2) allowed the seizure of goods whose owner the commissioner or authorized officer believes has not paid or will not pay value-added tax or excise duty.
However, Odunga’s ruling was not taken lightly by the taxman who argued that they had the power to seize the property of tax cheaters and as for the necessary documents which were part of their mandate as a revenue agency.
The taxman lamented that raiding offices of tax cheaters was the only way they could get answers and confirm whether a taxpayer is guilty or not.
With the new ruling, the KRA will now have to wait for the nullified sections to be subjected to a second opinion before they are amended.