Kenyan taxpayers will now be able to pay taxes using their phones, a move that could increase tax collection from small and medium enterprises. The new system is expected to increase tax compliance level and become a big hit at the low end of the market.    

According to John Njiraini, the Commissioner of KRA, the services will be open and available to all mobile network operators in the country.

“It will have a unique code linked to the taxpayer’s account through which they can track the status of their account,” said Mr Njiraini.

Through these services taxpayers and their agents will be in position to request information from KRA and get feedback via SMS. KRA will also use the platform to broadcast relevant information to taxpayers who opt for the service.

For the taxpayers to receive correct information through SMS, they must have some basic information about the matter, for instance, vehicle registration number or pin number, among others. You will then send an SMS in a specific format for the particular service to a provided number.

The new system will complement the iTax electronic platform launched early this year for medium and large tax payers. The Kenya Revenue Authority recorded a 20.4 per cent revenue growth during the financial year 2013/14 that saw collections of $10.7 billion compared with $8.8 billion in the 2012/13 financial year.

“The growth is partly attributed to the Revenue Administration Reform and Modernisation Programme whose objective is to re-engineer business processes through technology, revitalise the human resource and improve service delivery,” said George Muia, KRA southern region manager, adding that the system has enhanced revenue mobilisation, minimised taxpayer compliance costs and improved service delivery.

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