Business
Keroche Breweries to Lay Off 250 Workers in a Week amid Tussle with KRA
Keroche Breweries, a Kenyan brewer and alcoholic beverages manufacturer, warns that it will be forced to lay off 250 of its employees in the next week.
According to a statement by the firm on Thursday, 3rd March, the company won’t be allowed to sell alcohol worth Kes 512 million due to its tussle with the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA).
Keroche said that from 1st February 2022 to date, “we have remained closed and yet we have over two million liters of beer worth Kes 512 million our tanks which have fixed costs to a tune of about Kes 30 million required to maintain the same monthly.”
The KRA demands Kes 322 million in taxes from the beer manufacturer. The arrears date back to February 2021.
Keroche Brewery explained that the failure to be up to date with payments was caused by poor cash flow that could not meet the obligations of the company.
The firm was comfortable clearing the arrears in 24 months but KRA insisted they settle the debt in six months. Due to the tax dispute, KRA further wrote to commercial banks to stop engaging with the brewery.
The Kenya Revenue Authority closed the plant on December 7, 2021, and later reopened on December 27th, 2021. Keroche Breweries then remitted Kes 10 million which was insufficient according to KRA.
On January 31, 2022, the brewery was once again closed. Keroche then made a Kes 2.5 million payment. However, the factory remained closed because they could not reach an agreement with the KRA.
The office of the Commissioner –Domestic Taxes Department advised the firm to seek support from the Office of the Commissioner-General.
The company sort to write to Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta seeking his intervention.
Keroche urgently requests the president for the re-opening of the plant to prevent huge losses and to safeguard the livelihoods of thousands of Kenyans employed by the company.
