KRA recovers Ksh.4.3 billion from over 800 anonymous tips on tax evasion

Speaking at a public forum hosted by Bunge La Mwananchi at Nairobi’s Jevanjee Gardens, Muriithi urged Kenyans to continue reporting tax evaders using KRA’s anonymous portal, emphasizing that collective vigilance is key to curbing revenue losses.

The National Treasury Cabinet Secretary, John Mbadi, and KRA Chairperson, Nderitu Muriithi, assured the public that there would be no sacred cows in tax collection and revenue mobilization.

However, during the public forum, the two officials faced scrutiny over claims that a small segment of compliant taxpayers bears the country’s tax burden while others evade their obligations.

"Muulize Director wa Intelligence atuambie what he/she is doing to address tax evasion in this country. Because all of us must pay taxes as per the laws of this country," a member of the public questioned.

In response, Treasury CS John Mbadi said, "I agree with you, there is a lot of tax evasion in the country, and people who should be paying taxes. But again, he is shouting ‘arrest,’ yet if you mechanize and militarize tax collection, you will not achieve your objective."

"Mwaka jana mlitupasha habari mara 833, reports that led us to recover Ksh.4.23 billion. Tuwekeni bidii jameni," said the KRA Chairperson.

CS Mbadi revealed that KRA is developing a system to monitor taxpayers more effectively, particularly those under-declaring rental income. He also emphasized the need for realistic revenue projections to curb excessive government expenditure.

"This we can only achieve by being realistic about the figures we give KRA. Like this financial year 2025/26, if you saw the budget figures, we had projected to collect ordinary revenue of Ksh.3.18 trillion—it is impossible. I have asked the team at the Treasury, and we have revised it downwards to Ksh.2 trillion... We must start from realistic revenue so that we don’t spend what we don’t have."

To inject liquidity into the economy, the government is set to clear pending bills, prioritizing suppliers owed less than Ksh.10 million. The move aims to revive businesses, spur economic activity, and increase revenue generation.

According to CS Mbadi, out of the Ksh.663 billion worth of pending bills submitted, Ksh.474 billion has been verified, with 95% of the verified bills being below Ksh.10 million.