Doubtful probity officials contribute to tax evasion

If I say so myself, I laughed a lot when I read an article entitled "The KRA reveals six tricks used by foreign companies to evade taxes". [Just Google for that on ‘ by Timothy Maina, November 18, 2018].

"KRA" is of course the anagram of the Kenya Revenue Authority, the equivalent of the Tanzania TRA, the first administrator and collector of tax revenues for the two countries of the East African Community …

After reading the report (short, maybe?) Of 213 words, I could not decipher for life what could be revealed about tax evasion – be it in Kenya or Kiribati; escape by strangers or locals …

Let's put this in perspective …

According to journalist Timothy Maina, the Kenya Revenue Authority has "revealed (sic)" the six tips that multinational companies use to avoid taxes. One of the systems ("tips") implies that companies export very cheaply and import very dearly … ". The second round is to say that "most companies underreport what they pay to their expatriate workers – a measure that reduces their profits and therefore corporate tax …"

The third round is that companies "overestimate the price of the goods they import by charging for an import via a different country. For example, a car bought in Japan would be billed in Mauritius, a tax haven – leaving the KRA tax-free. "

Really…? Well, I do not know for sure.

But now let's move on to tax evasion. Tip 4: "Businesses in the agricultural sector are undervaluing their exports to report meager profits."

Tip number 5: "Parent companies use their branches in Kenya to artificially erase their functions and give the impression that they do less than what they actually do, resulting in fewer charges (recoveries of taxes) by the KRA. "Tax evasion number – 6 is that" (foreign trade) corporations exploit the privileges that the government has conferred on them when it is asked to provide information – including the use of the language of their country in the official documents sought by the KRA ". [I don’t quite cotton onto this…]

According to the newspaper, KRA told Sunday Nation, based in Nairobi, that she "had recovered 9.3 billion ksh (about 90.5 million dollars) of audit from nearly 150 companies in over the past four years, "and that she" is recovering 6 kSh .1 billion ($ 59.33 million) more!

Oh really!

Ah well … A response from "Stephen Machini" to the second attempt at tax evasion was quite caustic:

"How do underpaid expatriates reduce declared profits? You could have said that it reduces page deductions; but that means a reduction in net profits, because wages are eligible expenses in calculating corporate profits – and, I think, both are at 30%! "Msitubebe ufala with badly documented shit!" [Sheesh!].

Defined as "illegal non-payment or less-collected taxes", tax evasion is as old as the hills there … maybe older!

So, nothing is really new in the KRA's "revelation" of "six tricks" used to evade taxes – whether used by foreign or local companies!

In My Book of Things, what is really at stake is not the "tricks" allegedly used by potential taxpayers to evade their statutory tax obligations to the country. Crucial is the fact that in many alarming cases, shameless tax cheats are aided and abetted in their heinous deeds perpetrated by senior tax officials and other highly probity public officials. doubtful, a point … Tears!