Kenya Today
KRA to Deregister Non-Compliant Persons’ Pins
The Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) is set to deregister non-compliant personal identification numbers (PIN) of businesses that fail to file their tax returns before the June 30th deadline.
Those who have failed to file their tax returns, without showing cause, in the past and in the current financial year will lose their PINs by July 1, 2021.
“Failure to file returns, unless a cause is shown to the contrary, the Commissioner of Domestic Taxes shall have their personal identification numbers (PINs) de-registered and canceled from the KRA system,” said the taxpayer in a notice released on Monday, May 3, 2021.
The taxman has listed 62,727 pins on its website that are intended for de-registration and will be blocked from accessing critical public services. For schools, companies, and self-help groups that have failed to file their tax returns the owners will not be able to get government services that require PIN numbers. This is a move set to enforce tax compliance and punish tax cheats with the termination of their PINs.
KRA has also urged taxpayers to take advantage of its ongoing Voluntary Tax Disclosure Program (VTDP) that will allow them to be granted relief of penalties and interest arising from the tax disclosed. All annual tax returns for individuals and entities should be submitted online through the iTax platform, https://itax.kra.go.ke by the June 30th deadline.
The loss of KRA pins will have detrimental effects on Kenyans as the pin is needed to open bank accounts, apply for jobs, approving development plans, transfer and licensing of motor vehicles, and register pieces of land.
Reporting by Fatiha Shabir
