A day after the government announced a raft of measures to curb the consumption of illicit liquor and alcohol in the country, the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) has enhanced its surveillance in a move to eradicate the production and sale of illicit liquor.
KRA Commissioner General Humphrey Wattanga explained the authority has stationed its officers at all excisable goods manufacturing plants to enhance compliance with the law.
“KRA continues to collaborate with other Government Agencies within the MultiAgency framework to promote legitimate trade and protect the society against harmful products such as illicit alcohol, through various operations, border patrols, surveillance, and monitoring of cargo,” Mr Wattanga said.
Speaking before the Senate Standing Committee on Trade, Industrialization and Tourism, Mr Wattanga said that the Excise Duty regulations allow KRA to station its officers at factories producing excise tax-covered goods such as beer, wines and spirits, cigarettes, mineral water, soft drinks, juices among others.
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The officers, also known as resident staff implement compliance, service support, and enforcement initiatives including disclosure of any irregularities and discrepancies to ensure correct payment and filing of excise taxes by the manufacturers.
He added that the staff complements other monitoring measures such as CCTV cameras inside factories wired to the KRA system to enhance security.
The authority was responding to the petition tabled before the Senate asking it to provide information on what it is doing to enforce tax compliance at manufacturers like EABL.
During the sitting, KRA said that there are no variations in manufacturing ingredients that have tax implications dating back to 5 years.
Mr Wattanga said that Kenya Breweries Limited contributed over 60 percent of domestic excise collections in FY 2021/22 and 2022/23.
In the current Financial Year 2023/24, KRA has implemented 976 interventions on illicit trade resulting in the seizure of varying products with a market value of Sh897 million.
The authority reiterated that it is committed to collaborating with all government agencies in the fight against illicit brews, and drug and substance abuse.
