NCBA Is Ready To Pay KRA The Tax Waiver Should The Court Rule Otherwise

John Gachora, the Managing Director and CEO of NCBA Bank Kenya has said that the lender is ready to pay the Kenya Revenue Authority 350 million shillings that were waived off during the merger should the court rule otherwise.

Speaking on KTN News on Thursday afternoon, Mr. Gachora said contrary to what is in the public domain, especially across social media platforms, the tax waiver that was given to NCBA during the merger was 350 million shillings which fell within the guidelines of a transaction of such magnitude.

Given that the matter of the waiver is currently in court, Gachora said that should the court rule that the waiver was not supported to have been awarded by KRA, the bank will pay the cash without any hesitation.

“Should the court find out that NCBA was not entitled to the tax waiver during the merger, the following day, NCBA will write a cheque of 350 million shillings to the Kenya Revenue Authority,” he said during the interview on Thursday.

Related Content: Is Loop By NCBA Bank Kenya Worth The Hype?

On 27 September 2019, the Central Bank of Kenya approved the merger between NIC Group Plc and the Commercial Bank of Africa and name changes, effective 1 October 2019. The merged non-banking holding company became NCBA Group Plc and the Kenyan subsidiary of the merged entity became NCBA Bank Kenya Plc.

At the time of the merger, the financial institutions that formed NCBA had a total of 26,000 shareholders. According to Mr. Gachora, the same year that the 350 million shillings waiver was awarded, the lender paid 4.4 billion shillings in taxes to the Kenya Revenue Authority.

In 2021, NCBA paid 6.7 billion shillings in taxes and for the 2022 financial year, the lender will be paying at least 14.3 billion shillings to the taxman.

Related Content: 10 Reasons Why NCBA Is The Bank To Watch In 2023