NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

Wednesday, May 11, 2016

The Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) is seeking access to individual and companies’ mobile money transaction records in a move that is intended to open a new front in the fight against tax cheats.

KRA is targeting mobile money as part of the agency’s financial data gathering scheme that is meant to monitor businesses and individuals who are not paying their fair share of taxes.

People familiar with the plan said the taxman is at an advanced stage of rolling out a number crunching mechanism that will use electronic data to suggest incomes of those using mobile money to pay bills and make purchases.

KRA commissioner-general John Njiraini said the move is part of the effort to expand the tax net and rope in individuals and businesses using retail level data.