State officers who cannot account for their wealth and those who have acquired it through illegal means are in for a rough time after the lifestyle audit team outlined some of the audit guidelines.
The team has proposed that all state officers be forced to surrender any money and physical assets that they cannot account for to the government.
President Uhuru Kenyatta has also directed the Kenya Kenya Revenue Authority to ensure that high-net-worth individuals whose lifestyles are not reflective of the taxes they pay, if any, must show the source of their wealth and pay their dues.
Mr Kenyatta said this was in line with his administration’s resolve to widen the tax space and find more ways to bring in more Kenyans into the taxman’s net.
“Traders operating fake electronic tax registers and pocketing the VAT should also be brought to book. Additionally, criminal cartels smuggling in imported taxable goods through our ports ought to be easily detected and contained,” he said on Wednesday.
The President was speaking on Wednesday in Nairobi at the KRA 2017/18 Distinguished Taxpayers Awards ceremony.
President @UKenyatta walks from Times Towers to KICC about 150 meters #WorldCitiesDay #WednesdayWisdom Uhuru Gardens @Jacinta_ke @iam_bett pic.twitter.com/n56CYNy7mE
— Dominic™ (@its_Kurgat) October 31, 2018
But he also warned tax collectors not to use their positions to engage in extortion or promote tax evasion.
“The law must reflect the seriousness of tax collection and the consequences of default. There should be no space for tax evaders in Kenya,” Mr Kenyatta said.
Wealth-X, the firm that publishes the annual World Utra-Wealth Report, says the number of Kenya’s ultra-rich, defined as people worth $30 million (Sh3 billion) or more, grew by 11.7 per cent last year, ahead of India, Hong Kong and the United States.
However, no actual figure of the ultra-rich is given for Kenya which has in the past five years been ranked among the countries that are creating the super-rich at the highest rate, despite an economic slowdown.
The group of experts mainly drawn from the financial and the legal professions indicates that President Uhuru Kenyatta can select a permanent team including foreigners, EACC Commissioners or Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA.)
The experts who were selected after President Kenyatta ordered a national wide audit and also want the officers found guilty arrested and prosecuted.
The files for those found culpable will be forwarded to the office of the DPP for further review.
After the annual audit, civil servants will also sign a code of conduct and declare that they have no conflict of interest before taking up the state jobs.