Tax experts push for user-friendly payment platform

NAIROBI: Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) has been urged to install more user friendly features on its iTax platform so as to increase tax payers’ interest in the new system.

Tax experts have advised that the taxman also needs to upgrade the electronic tax servers to ease pressure on the current ones. The iTax filing method should also be implemented in phases and selectively.

“At present, data migration has been poor from the Integrated Tax Management System to the iTax system, while it takes longer to update new taxpayers’ data. Users are also experiencing connectivity failures, with initial registration onto this platform remaining a cumbersome process,” said Parag Shah, a tax partner at Grant Thornton Kenya.

Shah and Mr Samuel Mwaura, Director - Tax, Grant Thornton Kenya made these remarks Thursday during a National Bank of Kenya Business Club seminar on tax matters, held at the Strathmore Business School.

The KRA has given taxpayers until June 30, to file their returns online and failure to comply attarcts heavy penalties.

Filing taxes online using the iTax platform is expected to trigger faster processing of taxpayers’ returns and refunds, leading to more efficient tax administration.