KRA revenue grows to Sh144.6b

Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) has recorded a jump in its 2020/2021 Financial Year revenue performance after collecting Sh144.6 billion in March 2021 surpassing the revenue target.

This is compared to the month of February when KRA collected Sh127.7 billion registering a performance rate of 105.1 per cent to surpass its February revenue collection target.  

Despite the slow economic progression, KRA registered 11.2 per cent revenue growth collecting a surplus of Sh6.6 billion in March 2021. This was the fourth month running that KRA posted an improved and above target performance since December 2020.  

According to KRA, the revenue performance has been enhanced by the sustained implementation of compliance efforts, revenue enhancement initiatives and improved service delivery to taxpayers.  

In the fourth month running, Customs and Border Control (C and BC) Department achieved a growth of 47.3 per cent with a revenue collection of Sh60.751 billion, the second highest monthly collection in its history. This is an improved performance compared to the month of February when C&BC collected Sh51.3 billion reflecting a growth of 24.9 per cent.

Customs and Border Control surpassed the revenue target after collecting a revenue surplus of Sh14.409 billion in March 2021, achieving a performance rate of 131.1 per cent.

Domestic Taxes registered a performance rate of 91.4 per cent after collecting Sh83.378 billion. The performance was largely affected by Corporation Tax which registered a decline of 35.2 per cent, driven by significant decline of 62.8 per cent in the ICT sector. 

PAYE registered improved performance of 110.7 per cent with collection of Sh34.595 billion accumulating a surplus of Sh3.339 billion. The performance was boosted by revenue collection in the public sector which had a growth of 5.7 per cent.  

Withholding Tax registered revenue growth of 15.4 per cent with a collection of Sh9.418 billion which implied performance rate of 106.0 per cent. Domestic Excise Duty recorded a performance rate of 61.9 per cent after collecting Sh4.521 billion.  

Domestic Value Added Tax (VAT) collection amounted to Sh17.017 billion registering improved growth of 4.2 per cent compared to 1.6 per cent growth in February 2021. This was equivalent to a performance rate of 81.3.  

With the Kenyan economy anticipated to expand by above 6.0 per cent over the medium term, compared to 0.6 per cent projected in 2020 (according to Budget Policy Statement 2021), the country remains positive on revenue performance. KRA is also implementing a number of revenue enhancement measures. These include revamping the audit function, tax base expansion and enhanced debt programme, implementation of post clearance audits, comprehensive audit of all exemptions, enhanced scanning and intelligence led verification of cargo at the ports of entry.