Recently, I inquired from my neighbours on what they know about Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA). The obvious cross cutting answer was the association of KRA with tax payments. 

However, who is KRA, how and why was it formed? What are its role, mandate, mission and vision? This article will seek to enlighten taxpayers on the aforementioned and so much more.

To begin with, it is true that KRA is the Government’s agency charged with the role of assessing, collecting and accounting for all revenue on its behalf. However, there are certain revenues such as property rates that are imposed and collected by the County Governments.

The overall mandate of KRA is to assess, collect and account for all tax revenues in accordance with the written laws and the specified provisions of the written laws. This is an important role since our country relies on these funds to run national development programs to promote the socio-economic well-being of all Kenyans. Prior to the establishment of KRA, various taxes were collected by separate entities under the Ministry of Finance such as the Department of Value Added Tax, Department of Income Tax and Department of Customs. However, the high administrative costs, duplication of efforts and roles as well as  difficulties in enforcement and audit, brought about by the existence of these separate entities led to the demand of an efficient and cost effective tax system. Consequently, KRA was formed on 1st July 1995 by an Act of Parliament to address these challenges.

Like many other organisations, KRA has a clear vision and mission statement that supplements the overall goal of the organisation in collecting revenue. The Vision is to facilitate Kenya’s transformation through innovative, professional and customer-focused tax administration while the Mission is to build trust through facilitation to foster compliance with Tax and Customs Legislations.

The KRA management is made up of a Board of Directors, consisting of both public and private sector experts. The Board makes policy decisions, which are subsequently implemented by the KRA Management and Staff. The Board Chairman is appointed by the Head of State while the Chief Executive of the Authority is the Commissioner General, appointed by the Cabinet Secretary of the National Treasury.

Additionally, to maximise its operations countrywide, KRA is structured into 7 regions, headed by the Regional Coordinators based at their respective regional headquarters. These regions are North Rift with its headquarters in Eldoret; South Rift (Nakuru); Western (Kisumu); Southern (Mombasa); Central (Nyeri); Northern (Embu) and Nairobi whose headquarters are Times Tower along Haile Selassie Avenue. 

The KRA core values are Trustworthy, Ethical, Competent, Helpfulness and Simplicity (TECHS). These guiding principles ensure seamless and efficient service delivery to taxpayers.

Cynthiah Kerubo Oigara

Tax Education Officer