PETITION TO STOP KRA & TREASURY FROM HARASSING TAX PAYERS WITH VAT AUTOMATED ASSESSMENTS (VAA) PROGRAM & OTHER TAXES

 

The Parties

1.        The Lead Petitioner and other co petitioners  are Kenyan citizens exercising their sovereign power directly under article one of the constitution in presenting this Petition in the public interest. In addition the lead petitioner MICAH HERBERT MAGAJIA is a certified Public Accountant and a tax practitioner with other fundamental rights and freedoms under chapter 4 of the 2010 constitution on the bill of rights key among them :

 

a)      Right of assembly, demonstration, picketing and petition

 

b)      Freedom of conscience, religion, belief and opinion;

 

c)      Including and not limited to articulation of Article 37 of the Constitution that confers every person the right, peaceably and unarmed, to assemble, to demonstrate, to picket, and to present petitions to public authorities

The first respondent and Key decision maker in this petition is the Commissioner General, Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA), a body corporate  with a common seal and perpetual succession  established under Section 3 of the Kenya Revenue Authority Act.  KRA is a central body for the assessment and collection of revenue, for the administration and enforcement of the laws relating to revenue and to provide for connected purposes.

 

The second Respondent is the Cabinet Secretary, National Treasury in charge of the national government. A key department which formulates financial and economic policies and oversees effective coordination of national government financial operations.

 

The Petitioner and the undersigned hereby seeks urgent attention and intervention of KRA as the first respondent and all other respondents above to immediately stop the ongoing VAT Automated Assessments (VAA) due to its impracticality and most importantly at this worrying times of Corona Virus outbreak. In addition and in the interest of the general public we demand that KRA should consider giving Kenyans Tax break , tax rebates and write off some of the burdening penalties and fines that has become a draw back to the growth and development of businesses and the people of Kenya. We demand that this be done immediately at this time of disease outbreak and allow Kenyans to cope with other pressing problems 

We hold the view that this exercise is not practically attainable within the specific timelines frames being given to tax payers

We hold the view that this program didn’t meet the constitutional threshold as far as public participation is concerned in its implementation.

KRA should engage public in having an open, accountable and structured participation where citizens or tax payers or a segment of a community can interact, exchange views and influence decision making

 

Public participation a crucial pillar of the 2010 Kenyan Constitution  and promotes democracy by providing the public with the opportunity to take part in decision-making processes in government and KRA should have begun by effectively informing tax payers, consult them, effectively involve them, collaborate with them and finally empower them in complying with the tax requirements.

Article 10 (2) a, b and c under the national values and principles of governance includes democracy and participation of the people; inclusiveness; good governance, integrity, transparency and accountability

The framework of public participation is further strengthened by Article 27of the Constitution which guarantees equality and non-discrimination

Article 33 further states that public participation should respect the freedom of expression of all participants. We therefore submit the respondents above that this process or program of Automated VAT assessment is frustrating Kenyans with unreasonable timelines yet it in our view it didn’t meet the constitutional threshold of public engagement which is our right in the constitution.

To the National Treasury we submit as follows

By the executive order No. 2 of 2013 the National Treasury in Kenya is responsible for national economic policy, government’s annual budget, and management of the national government’s public finances.

The national treasury must exercise this mandate in accordance to the Constitution 2010 (Article 225), the Public Finance Management Act 2012 ( section 12) and all other relevant statutes.

We demand that the national treasury in conjunction with KRA to make public all the relevant tax implications of this program to Kenyans. We demand this under the Kenya’s Access to Information Act (2016) which was enacted in August 2016 that entitles every citizen in Kenya the right to access information held by the state and private entities that collect information that are of public interest.

Additionally we demand that the national treasury to pronounce itself to the general public about this frustrating and otherwise self-defeating program of VAA especially in the wake of corona virus because this exercise involves constant travel and visits to vendor shops in varied places including fur flung areas

To the National Assembly we submit as follows

Article 119 of the constitution of Kenya 2010 confers upon every Kenyan a right to petition parliament to consider any matter within its authority, including to enact, amend or repeal any legislation that’s detrimental to the welfare of its citizens.

We therefore demand that parliament and the national treasury should provide leadership and consider key amendments in the Kenyan Tax regime in totality to increase the tax bracket and reduce the tax burden so that KRA should stop over burdening tax payers who are struggling to comply