Kenyans to lose their Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) pins for failing to file their returns before the June 30th deadline.
According to a new notice published on Monday, the taxman said persons who have already failed to file their respective tax returns without showing cause will lose their pins after the lapse of a 30-day window.
After the deadline lapses, the authority announced that it would begin the process of deregistering the PIN holders and erasing their data from the national servers
“Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) would like to notify the public that taxpayers who are registered under the Value Added Tax (VAT) Act, 2013, and the Income Tax Act, CAP 470 Laws of Kenya are required to file their returns under the respective laws.
“Failure to file returns, unless the cause is shown to the contrary, the Commissioner of Domestic Taxes shall have their personal identification numbers (PINs) de-registered and canceled from the KRA system,” read part the notice.
Without KRA PINs, both individuals and firms will have a hard time conducting business in the country as well as scoring employment in companies where the KRA Pin is mandatory.
According to a statement, the authority advised the affected individuals to take advantage of the Voluntary Tax Disclosure program and negotiate their mode of payment.
On its website, the tax collection agency has listed 62,727 pins intended for de-registration in the next month.
The list of pins set for cancellation are linked to an estimated 7,107 individual accounts with the balance, a majority, comprising of companies, schools, and self-help groups.
“Taxpayers are also encouraged to take advantage of the Voluntary Tax Disclosure Program and apply, disclose and pay their outstanding liability with a relief on interest and penalties,” added the statement.
The program provides a platform for a taxpayer to disclose tax liabilities that were previously undisclosed to the Commissioner for the purpose of being granted relief of penalties and interest arising from the tax disclosed.
The intended de-registration and cancellation of the pins are part of KRA’s move to enforce tax returns compliance as provided for by the 2015, Tax Procedures Act.