By S N
For me Keroche Industries must be spared this targeting by the DPP. There is a tax tribunal in KE handling KRA petitions and issues with Keroche. Let tax issues be left to dispute resolution. Negotiate and mediate there.
Kenyan industries should even be exempted when things become tough to preserve jobs. What is the wisdom prosecuting struggling businesses, take them down then next year you realize that you killed the goose that lays the golden egg because it hid some of her eggs from the poultry farmer? Even Tabitha avoided tax and bought herself mansions and invested in money markets, I am for dispute resolution not prosecution.
Hezbon Omollo is even more candid; read on..
KEROCHE CASE AS I SEE IT
The normal process of dispute resolution on tax matters begin with an assessment by KRA which is concluded by a tax demand.
The tax payer is at liberty to dispute by filing an objection.
KRA then reviews the objection and renders a decision whether to accept the objection. All this is done under guidance from Tax Procedures Act 2015.
The decision of the Commissioner on the objection application by the tax payer must be rendered within 60 days from the date of the submission and receipt.( this is likely to change with the new finance bill 2019). If dissatisfied , the tax payer has leeway to go to Tax appeals tribunal which will listen to both parties.This is the first stage of a fair arbiter and the TAT is a quasi judicial court that renders a decision in line with dictates of TPA(Tax Procedures Act). It can also recommend ADR(Alternative Dispute Resolution)for both parties . If ADR fails the TAT decides the matter and any dissatisfied party can go to High court. Gradually until Appeals court.
Only after this is exhausted and matters canvassed settled should enforcement be taken like the kind I am seeing on Keroche.
Remember during all this process, taxes not in dispute must be paid before TAT can listen to a tax payer or alternatively a payment plan entered into to the satisfaction of the commissioner.
Now the issue of Keroche centers on interpretation of Customs& Excise Duty act on how to tax the spirit drink in question.
Do we tax the mixed drink or the neat alcohol in it? Should water be taxed because this is a pre-mixed drink meant to address misuse of strong whiskies.(So a 750ml bottle of same whisky would attract less tax because it’s not mixed with water. Keroche has done a post production mix with water to address lethal consequences of rwata rwata consumption habit of our youths)
It is the matter that has to be determined before evasion of tax can be evoked.
So according to my understanding the real dispute is in interpretation of the Act which TAT or High court can deal with without being criminalized ab-initio.
Anonymous says
Deal with your own cancer! You voted for it to the last illigal kids. And that’s your choises, so don’t cry.
Anonymous says
double standard tuwache……kama ni diector wa brookside, kbl…equity..kcb…angeshikwa
why must gava arrest billionares…..can they not have dialogue on way forwad on taxes etc…
arresting investers scares any investor willing to pump in pesa……
Anonymous says
this dpp and kra commiting offences to make few greedy and cruel people happy will learn lesson….when about economy …
Anonymous says
this is same kra that withdrew licences for betting companies……despite court ruling ruing aganist it….nd since siasa is reason for betting companies……….either want shares or funds to fund them but stuck ground……..now cartels with dynsty are misuing people who pray 5times a day to arrest every person not bribing or giving pesa to handshake,dyansties,cartles…..
Anonymous says
woi……see below opaque tax waivers for dynasty companies —–OMTATAH is the hustler fighting dynasty gava ills, undue favouritism
———————————————————-
Omtatah moves to court over NIC-CBA merger tax waiver
Activist Okiya Omtatah has moved to court challenging the tax waiver given to the NIC and CBA banks merger.
He wants the court to stop the secretive and opaque decision by the treasury to exempt them from paying tax.
“The impugned tax waiver which was granted on July 26 but was only announced in August 18 is irregular, unlawful and unconstitutional” reads court documents.
In May, the Competition Authority gave a nod to the merger between CBA and NIC banks.
CBA, whose market share is at 6.05 per cent, and NIC Bank with 4.62 per cent will both hold 10.67 per cent of the market share post-merger.
“However, it is anticipated that the merged entity will continue facing competition from tier-one banks who, together, control 55.32% of the market,” the regulator said in their notice
Anonymous says
handshake ndio iii….
Anonymous says
…ohhhhhwe cannot develop if few greedy individuals decide whom to invest or block them…..
look….Aliko Dangote was to invest in cement and steel indurty in kenya but was not given licences………now he has set up factories in zambia ,ethiopia etc where cement cost 400ksh …..if he had invested in kenyan building cost would have dropped by 30%…..but cartels around dynasty blocked Aliko Dangote………what message did they send…….very stupid one…..
Anonymous says
mmmmmmmmm
How Keroche owners’ children escaped arrest by KRA agents
SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 1 2019
Tabitha Karanja, Joseph Karanja
Keroche Industries Limited owners Tabitha Karanja and her husband Joseph at the Milimani Law Courts where they were charged with Sh14.4 billion tax evasion on August 23, 2019. PHOTO | RICHARD MUNGUTI | NATION MEDIA GROUP
In Summary
John Muigai and Edward Mwangi and daughters Annalisa Wanjiru and Patricia Wangari Muigai, had all been summoned by the KRA commissioner.
But Mrs Karanja showed up alone at the KRA offices in Nairobi’s Upper Hill area after the Keroche board resolved to exclude the other directors (children) from presenting themselves before the KRA detectives.
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SAM KIPLAGATBy SAM KIPLAGAT
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The four children of Keroche Breweries owners Tabitha Karanja and her husband Joseph Karanja escaped arrest narrowly last month after their mother opted to show up alone when they were summoned by the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA).
MANNER OF ARREST
Documents obtained from the tax agency show that Mrs Karanja, the CEO of the beer manufacturer, together with her husband, who is also the chairman of the board, sons John Muigai and Edward Mwangi and daughters Annalisa Wanjiru and Patricia Wangari Muigai, had all been summoned by the KRA commissioner in charge of investigations and enforcement, Mr Justus Kiuvu, on August 8 to appear before the taxman for questioning over tax evasion claims.
But Mrs Karanja showed up alone at the KRA offices in Nairobi’s Upper Hill area after the Keroche board resolved to exclude the other directors (children) from presenting themselves before the KRA detectives.
By Thursday, Mrs Karanja was still apprehensive that the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) intended to arrest her, her husband and their four children, who are all directors of the Naivasha based brewery.
The DPP, through State Counsel Gikui Gichuki, however gave her an assurance that there were no plans to arrest them over the tax evasion claims.
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In a letter to KRA Commissioner General James Mburu dated August 13, Mrs Karanja protested against the manner in which the summons to appear at KRA offices was issued.
She explained that the company had religiously remitted taxes on a monthly basis for the past nine years on the contentious 188ml Crescent Vodka, which is what is in the 500ml Vienna Ice ready-to-drink vodka.
LIFE-SAVING SURGERY
Mrs Karanja further argued that she was handled “in the most disrespectful and humiliating manner for three hours” after the summons. She left the offices because of the embarrassment, she stated.
“The three hours include an attempt for cross-examination, without any documentation, on allegations of tax evasion by several officers who did not identify themselves,” she said, adding that she had been informed that the questioning would only take five minutes.
She said the interrogation was done by five officers at different intervals, who presented themselves in a manner that suggested the session was ad hoc “and was being controlled and managed by someone or persons who are running an unofficial operation with KRA”.
“It was a bizarre and shameful exercise that only ended when I made a decision to disengage from what was obviously an unofficial kangaroo court convened to intimidate and embarrass me,” she protested.
The couple was later arrested but her husband was spared the agony of spending a night in police custody. He was freed on personal bond after intervention from his doctor, Dr Dan Gikonyo, stating that he had just undergone life-saving surgery. Mrs Karanja was not as lucky as she was locked up overnight at the Muthaiga Police Station before being taken to court the next day.
INCORRECT STATEMENTS
On Thursday, Justice James Wakiaga marked as settled the petition by Mrs Karanja seeking to block the arrest of her entire household.
Through state counsel Gichuki, the DPP said he was not intending to arrest Mrs Karanja now that she and her husband had already pleaded not guilty to the charges of tax evasion and had been released on bail.
The charges stated that they were involved in fraud by posting incorrect statements on excise duty by reducing the company’s tax liability. They are alleged to have committed the offences between February 20, 2015 and July 20, 2019.
Chief magistrate Francis Andayi directed Mr Karanja to post Sh2 million cash bail to secure his release. Mrs Karanja was directed to deposit cash bail of Sh10 million plus Sh15 million on behalf of the company.
The case will be mentioned Monday to confirm whether the Sh15 million cash bail deposited on behalf of the company, has been paid. The parties will also confirm whether the prosecution has supplied the defence with witness statements and list of exhibits, with a view to setting a hearing date.