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Browsing Tax Knowledge Base by Author "Aondo, Robinson"

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    Increasing Tax Base in Kenya
    (Kenya School of Revenue Administration, 2020) Larzen, Stephen Juma; Magero, Peter; Makanga, Aineah; Aondo, Robinson
    Kenyan government has delegated the mandate of collecting revenue to the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA). The government depends on this revenue to fund its projects and provide invaluable services to its citizens. Every fiscal year, the Ministry of Finance through treasury projects the estimated amount of revenue they expect KRA to collect to supplements its budget. However, each year KRA tax revenue collection has fallen short of the expectations. There is a growing concern about the gap between the number of eligible taxpayers and the actual taxpaying population in Kenya. The (KRA) data indicates that the number of taxpayers who filed the annual income tax returns by June 2019 was about 3.6 million. With a population size of over 47 million Kenyans, representing 7.6 percent of the total population. This research seeks to answer the questions: Why does KRA revenue collection fall short of the projected target? and How can KRA effectively expand its tax base? KRA reports and data, News articles, journals, critical essays, books/book chapters, and newspaper reports were examined to answer the questions. This Research Paper concludes that KRA has been missing out on its targets because of a small tax base, deliberate and abetted tax evasion schemes, and ineffective revenue collection strategies. The Kenya Revenue Authority needs to enhance its taxpayer education program to sensitize Kenyans on their tax compliance obligations and collaborate with other agencies to eliminate tax evasion in Kenya.