Small traders seeking to block the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) from placing them on the value-added tax (VAT) Special Table – an administrative procedure that restricts the filing of tax returns for non-compliance- have suffered a setback after the Tax Appeals Tribunal ruled that it lacks the powers to stop the taxman from doing so.
In a far-reaching decision, the tribunal rejected an application by event planner Milele Tents seeking to restrain the KRA’s Commissioner for Micro and Small Taxpayers from placing it under the administrative mechanism used to monitor non-compliant taxpayers. The tribunal held that granting such orders would amount to issuing “speculative” or “anticipatory” relief.