Nairobi — Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) is partnering with Kisumu County Government to unlock a Sh4 billion revenue potential.
KRA opines that the county has the capacity to enhance its own source revenue collection.
The Authority Commissioner General Humphrey Wattanga said the partnership is aimed at enabling the county to realize its potential to collect Sh. 4 billion annually from the current revenue collection of Sh1.2 billion.
Speaking during a meeting with the Kisumu County Governor Prof Anyang Nyongo, Wattanga said that KRA will support the county through capacity building and aligning their tax processes.
"KRA will also partner with the county to identify and activate various revenue streams and tap them into the revenue basket," he said.
The Authority will participate in planning, forecasting of revenue targets, monitoring and accounting for revenue collected.
Wattanga said that KRA data shows the county has the prospective to collect much more and reiterated that this can be achieved if correct structures are established and maintained.
He noted that KRA is ready to support the county and urged them to review its processes, embrace technology including a cashless system, to enhance tax compliance and seal revenue loopholes.
He affirmed that KRA has overtime adopted these strategies which have subsequently boosted collection of taxes.
Governor Nyong'o appreciated the working relationship between KRA and the county and promised that his administration is committed to expand its revenue base and enhance revenue collection to support the county's development agenda and services.
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He noted that the county has come a long way as far as revenue collection is concerned and the implementation of the Electronic Revenue platform has boosted revenue.
Prof Nyongo said that the collection is bound to grow even higher following the implementation of a cashless payment platform and the partnership with Safaricom in implementation of the tax system.
KRA further announced that it intends to support the county in realization of the Greening Kisumu Initiative.
This is after the Governor pledged to allocate KRA five hectares of land in the Mamboleo area, where the Authority will plant trees.
KRA will also set up a Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) help desk at Mamboleo area to support the business community in the area to uphold compliance.
The County Government will also allocate space for KRA to plant trees at Taifa Park.
The tree planting is part of the Presidential initiative to plant 15 billion trees by 2032 aimed at restoring 5.1 million hectares of deforested and degraded landscapes in the country.
