After 9,686,358 excise stamps were allegedly stolen from the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA), raising questions about tax fraud and the potential introduction of fake goods into the market, the KRA has been requested to submit answers.
On Thursday, Senator Miraj Abdulrahman, who was nominated, instructed the Senate’s Standing Committee on Finance and Budget to look into the possibility of a tax-evasion ring infiltrating the KRA’s systems and endangering the government’s tax collection efforts.
Given that title deeds were allegedly taken from the Government Printer by unidentified individuals in September 2024 and that the results of investigations have not yet been made public, the senator is calling on KRA to answer Kenyans.
Miraj has requested that the Finance Committee interview the KRA’s leadership in order to get an explanation for the theft and then report back to the August House on the market’s product safety.
The Senator further requested that the Committee, which is led by Ali Roba, describe the steps the tax collecting agency has done to stop additional systemic intrusions and to stop the theft and sale of fake goods in Kenya.
The illegal trade, which makes up around 40% of the nation’s sales, has long been a problem for Kenya.
While some of these commodities are misclassified as lower-value imports in order to avoid taxes, others are smuggled imports meant for transit that are diverted into the local market tax-free.
The stolen stamps may potentially be connected to locally produced counterfeits. Fake goods erode consumer trust and detract from Kenya’s appeal as an investment destination.
Concern over unaccounted-for excise stamps has existed for a while.
President William Ruto questioned a revenue disparity in 2022 at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC) during the annual Taxpayers’ Month.
“The trouble is that the government is selling 2.9 billion stamps, while people are selling the balance, which is approximately 7 billion stamps,” Ruto said.
KRA upgraded to enhanced-security excise stamps made by the Swiss company SISCPA in an effort to combat counterfeiting. Older, more forgery-prone stamps were replaced in 2003 with these ones with trace features, yet revenue losses continue despite the precautions.
