The Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) has reported a notable 6.7% increase in tax collections for the financial year 2022/2023. The total tax revenue collected amounted to Ksh.2.166 trillion, compared to Ksh.2.031 trillion collected in the previous financial year. According to a statement released by the KRA, the growth in revenue was influenced by a slower domestic economic growth rate of 4.8% in 2022, down from 7.6% in 2021.
The KRA attributes this growth to the positive performance observed across various sectors of the economy. These sectors include taxes on international trade and transactions, excise taxes, taxes on income, profits, and capital gains, taxes on goods and services, as well as property taxes.
Specifically, domestic taxes experienced a growth rate of 8.5%, with a collection of Ksh.1.407 trillion, surpassing the target of Ksh.1.481 trillion. This indicates a commendable performance rate of 95.0%.
Excise taxes on betting demonstrated exceptional performance, exceeding expectations with a growth rate of 116.2%. The revenue collected from excise on betting amounted to Ksh.6.640 billion, surpassing the target of Ksh.5.715 billion.
Domestic value-added tax (VAT) collection reached Ksh.272.452 billion, reflecting a significant growth rate of 11.3% compared to the previous year.
Corporation tax achieved a performance rate of 94.2%, with a collection of Ksh.263.819 billion. This represents a growth rate of 9.0% compared to the previous financial year.
Additionally, taxes on income, profits, and capital gains demonstrated a growth rate of 2.8% in FY2022/23. The revenue collected in this category amounted to Ksh.68.124 billion, translating to a performance rate of 91.4%.
As part of efforts to expand the tax base, the KRA successfully recruited 940,483 additional active taxpayers during the period under review, resulting in an additional collection of Ksh.14.64 billion.
The KRA also achieved significant revenue growth in the digital business sector, collecting a total of Ksh.5.328 billion. This represents an impressive growth rate of 207.9% compared to the same period in the previous financial year, 2021/2022.
Over the past five years, Kenya’s revenue collection has shown a consistent upward trend, increasing from Ksh.1.58 trillion in FY2018/2019 to Ksh.2.166 trillion in FY2022/23. This represents a substantial growth rate of 37% over the past five years, indicating positive economic progress and improved tax compliance.