Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) staff will now start wearing body cameras to deal with tax cheating and bribery.
The body cameras will be used mainly by staff in the domestic tax department and customs and border control.
“Very soon we will also be ensuring our enforcement officers have body-worn cameras, like the ones you see in the US, so that any action they take is recorded and we can see it. When you put it off, we will also have to understand why you do it,” KRA Commissioner, Githii Mburu said.
This comes after some KRA staff have been accused of helping to fraudulently clear cargo and alter tax returns to help people dodge duty payments.
The accused persons have been investigated for amassing unexplained wealth.
According to KRA, the country loses approximately Ksh 12 billion in revenue to tax cheats and has been mitigating the loopholes to meet its target.
The use of bodycams is being introduced as Kenya seeks to reduce its appetite for debt in favor of funding the bulk of its budget from taxes.
Mburu revealed that the use of cameras will be rolled out beginning with big-ticket places like border points, Mombasa Port, the Inland Container Depot and the JKIA, where cases of theft, cheating in the declaration of returns, corruption, and bribery have been witnessed.
The integrity of the KRA workers has come into focus in the recent past as a biting cash crisis hit the government.
Last year, the tax authority announced it was viewing media profiles of targeted individuals to reconcile their lifestyles with their tax compliance.
The taxman’s target for the year ending June 2022 was increased by Ksh 25 billion to Ksh 1.8 trillion.
“I believe we will be over the original target of KSh 1.8 trillion by KSh 140 billion. Right now we are above it by KSh 126 billion, so w hope this month we can do another KSh 15 billion so it will be about KSh 140 billion,” Mburu said.
KRA is also set to intensify its crackdown on wealthy tax evaders, setting the stage for travel bans, asset freezes and deactivation of Personal Identification Numbers.
