Ruto proposes renaming of KRA to Kenya Revenue Service
President William Ruto has proposed changing Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) to Kenya Revenue Service, following in the footsteps of outgoing Treasury CS Ukur Yatani.
According to Ruto, the rebranding would make the taxman more customer-focused and approachable.
“We will work with the Kenya Revenue Authority on a culture change to make it a people friendly, customer-centric organisation. I am of the view that we should rename it the Kenya Revenue Service in line with the proposed transformation,” Ruto said while addressing a joint 13th parliament sitting on Thursday.
In his 2022 budget address, CS Ukur Yatani advocated a change of identity for KRA in order to rebrand the authority and enhance its public image, hence improving tax compliance through improved public relations.
President Ruto also stated his commitment and determination to ensure that the country’s tax structure is responsive to economic requirements. According to Ruto, the system must be equal, efficient, and customer-friendly.
Ruto went on to say that the country had failed to meet the economic principles of equitable taxation, which require that the tax burden reflect ability to pay.
“We are over-taxing trade and under-taxing wealth. We will be proposing tax measures that begin to move us in the right direction,’ Ruto said.
Ruto stated that the country needed to move away from borrowing to pay recurrent expenditure, and that he would reverse that in the next three years to return to a system in which the government contributes to national savings by keeping recurrent expenditure below revenue.