KTalker arguing about Kenya’s Tax Base

About a week ago, there was a discussion here about tax collection and the number of participants in formal employment. To summarize some guy was arguing that formal taxes capture most of the wage earners and hence formal employment is representative of the working population. There was also disagreement about how much tax is collected vis-à-vis the percentage of due taxes.

This settles it. Kenya is nowhere near being tax efficient.

[SIZE=6]Non-tax revenue rises 78 per cent
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Just over a third, or 36 per cent, of the 8 million registered taxpayers in Kenya actively pay tax.

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im not @Amused

hiizi umeffi zako tulikuambia ukunie ukule jinga

I officially have a stalker! I’m a STAR !

And I see watu wakisema haki yetu, and yet we are paying for the public schools that our kids are not using and the public hospitals that we are not visiting (with the exception of the times when our Condoms tear in action and need PEP).

Nani halipi tax? receipt ya supermarket husema hapo chini kuna tax umetoa. Even in mashambani ukinunua kerosene na maziwa si umelipa tax. Hata kama huna kazi safaricom wakikupora si wanachukua hadi ya kulipa tax. Utilities…gas,stima,maji taxed.

Sijakataa, they pay 16%of something, I also buy the same isht n I am not exempt. I also pay 20k in PAYE, every fuacking month for services I don’t use.

As it is we’re overtaxed. VAT is on virtually everything we buy. Sales tax. Income tax.
You should always fight to pay as little taxes as possible.
Let the government find a way to efficiently use the billions it collects every week.

As it is we’re overtaxed. VAT is on virtually everything we buy. Ongezea sales tax. Ongezea income tax. Ongezea company tax.

You should always fight to pay as little taxes as possible because you worked hard for your money.

Let the government find a way to efficiently use the billions it collects every week.

Leta rink ya hiyo discussion unasema ilikuwa hapa, I missed that

This is why I stated the people who scream the loudest that they pay tax are usually the ones who do not.
Like i said last week 2.5 million Kenyans pay income tax.(The Nation Newspaper says2.9, so around 400,000 people have been added since I saw the figures) out of 8 million taxpayers.
remember we have a workforce of around 18-20 million. meaning 10 to 12 million people are not registered as taxpayers at all!!!
Hawa ndio hupayua that they are taxpayers.
The ones who are justifying themselves that they pay VAT and you do not pay Income tax.
Dude, even Ugandans pay Custom Duties which bring in more revenue than VAT and Tourists also pay VAT when they buy items while in Kenya.So do children, and children do not vote.You are no different from the three.Kaa Pale!!!
Income tax brings in close to 40% of the Government’s revenue. This is what people should be talking about. Why 5.1 people are not paying taxes yet they are registered and why over 10 million people are not registered at all

Nice to say but you know you’ll have to pay.

But you said something very crucial that lots of debaters are missing. Income Tax vs Sales Tax.
While I think that VAT is way too high, I believe it is because income tax is infinitesimal. Only 8 million people are REGISTERED tax payers. There are approximately 21,894,831 in the 18+ to 65 yr age bracket. The unemployment rate assumed at 30%. So, ~
15,326,382.

8 M registered = 52%
Active Tax payers = 18.8%!!
That’s why it’s never enough.

By the way, even the non-registered (15,326,382 - 8,000,000) , 7,326,382 DOES NOT INCLUDE informal employment (mama boga and wamsee the panel beater)

How are we overtaxed when 2.9 million people pay 40% of Government tax revenue???
We do not have sales taxes. Countries either have a sales tax or VAT.We have VAT
our VAT rate is amongst the lowest in Africa and the lowest in East Africa. Uganda and Tanzania’s VAT is 18%
Our Corporate tax is high by international standards, but companies have various ways to get tax relief.
EPZ firms pay no corporate tax for 20 years.
listed companies on the NSE pay at a rate of 20%

Our VAT is low by both African and international standards. It is why VAT despite everyone paying it brings in less income than even Custom duties most of the time.
in East Africa, Uganda ,Tanzania and Rwanda have a VAT rate of 18%
In Europe,the average is 24%. Only Switzerland is an anomaly with a rate of 8%.Same to Luxembourg with 15%. The rest are in the 20s. Same to Latin America where like Brazil, the average is 20%.
The only country whose sales taxes/VAT are out of sync with everyone else is of course, the USA.
They vary by state,with the Tennessee having the highest rate at around 9% while some states have no sales taxes at all like Oregon, Montana and New Hampshire.
So on a global scale, our VAT rate is actually very low.I remember Sweden had a 35% VAT rate which reduced to 25% in recent years

You are right. I am fuzzy on the difference between sales and VAT taxes.

When you look at the numbers, you realize that the political fodder (over-taxation) that some people think they had is non-existent.

VAT is on virtually everything we buy so I’m not wrong stating we’re overtaxed.

Americans are debating a tax bill. We’re still waiting for running water from the taps

But you use roads mkubwa, your tax and mine also pay you, and other civil servants.

VAT income is SMALLER than Income Tax in this country despite everyone including children paying . So we are hardly being taxed on VAT at all!Given the low rate. If we are being overtaxed, then the entire planet is being overtaxed with regards to VAT except Switzerland and the USA.
Also, the poor consume tax exempt products like Unga, Milk and the likes which are VAT exempt more,so they cannot complain of overtaxation. They are hardly paying any VAT as compared to middle income and upper income individuals and families.
Note that fuel has not had VAT in nearly a decade.(Though it almost made a comeback this September) and were one of the few countries without it. That is why IMF has been pressuring use to bring it back.
If you have ever attended a KMA meeting, taxation never comes up because our rates are low. Manufacturers and those in energy complain of fixed charges and high costs of electricity and transport, but never tax, because those who have expanded to the rest of East Africa can tell you Kenya is literally a tax haven in comparison