Taxman nets Sh2bn for Nairobi County

The Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) has collected Sh1.87 billion in four months since taking charge of the function in Nairobi in March this year.

The taxman netted Sh495.4 million in March, on being appointed as the principal agent for overall revenue collection by the Nairobi County government.

This then dipped to Sh368.8 million in April, before increasing to Sh412.1 million the following month, carrying the trajectory to the last month of the financial year when it recorded Sh588.8 million.

NEW TAXES

City Hall, however, missed its annual own-source revenue target by over Sh8 billion, posting the worst ever collection since the advent of devolution in the year 2013.

The county government managed Sh8.36 billion in the financial year ending June 30, 2020 against a target of Sh17.05 billion despite introducing a raft of new taxes and levies.

Before then, the county government had collected slightly above Sh6 billion.

As at January 31, 2020, City Hall had netted Sh4.7 billion against a target of Sh9.9 billion. This means that only Sh3.06 billion had been collected in the four months between February and May.

MISSED TARGET

In the first quarter, City Hall missed its target by Sh1.7 billion, collecting Sh1.5 billion against a projection of Sh3.2 billion. In the second quarter of October, November and December, the county collected Sh1.6 billion.

“The global Covid-19 pandemic greatly hampered revenue collection and enhancement initiatives due to business closures and lockdowns across the country.

“Despite this, KRA consistently improved revenue collection from month to month and was able to grow revenue by 33 per cent in June, 2020 compared to June 2019,” reads the report on performance.