It is clear, from statements by various political actors, that Kenya aspires to be an internationally competitive economy, comparable to Singapore. But the tax and regulatory policies imposed by the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) and Kenya Bureau of Standards (Kebs) cannot be the key enablers in transforming Kenya.
KRA’s directive that receipts not issued on the eTIMS platform will be disallowed for tax purposes, and that certain expenses will not be recognised is a death warrant for thousands of small-scale traders, contractors and unincorporated businesses without capacity or scale to embrace such new digital change.