iTax system has helped boost the country’s tax administration ranking globally

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The adoption of online filing of returns using Kenya Revenue Authority’s (KRA) iTax system has helped boost the country’s tax administration ranking globally.

A new report by the World Bank and business consultancy firm PwC has hailed the iTax platform, saying it had substantially simplified tax administration, which had, in turn, enabled medium-sized firms to file tax returns with ease.

The report, titled Paying Taxes 2018, ranked Kenya at position 92 globally in terms of ease of paying taxes last year, a 26 per cent jump from position 125 in 2015.

The report looked at the time taken to file taxes, the number of taxes a firm is required to pay, a company’s total tax liability and handling of post-filing processes that included tax refunds from the tax authorities.

“In 2016, there was a widespread adoption of online filing of taxes and this is one of the reasons there has been an improvement in the general tax administration in Kenya,” said Titus Mukora, director PwC.

“The improvement was largely driven by electronic filing and payment systems and the widespread adoption by taxpayers.”

According to the report, it takes a total of 185 hours to file taxes, compared to the previous 195 hours while businesses had to pay a total of 26 taxes in 2016, an improvement from 34 taxes in 2015.