2 million file returns on iTax as KRA extends deadline to Sunday

Models at a mock queue along Mombasa road during the launch of a countrywide campaign by KRA to sensitise all tax payers to adopt the online platform ‘iTax to file returns.

A record two million users filed their tax returns on the Kenya Revenue Authority's (KRA) iTax platform as the taxman said the deadline to file returns had been extended to Sunday.

KRA says the record number was reached as at June 30, 2015, adding that the system has heralded a new dawn in the use of information technology to collect tax.

This number, however, is expected to go higher as the deadline for filing income tax returns has been extended another four days to close at midnight on Sunday July 5, 2015. During this period, KRA says that taxpayers who are yet to file their returns will enjoy a penalty-free reprieve.

"By law, taxpayers who fail to submit their returns by this Sunday, face the risk of being surcharged a Sh1,000 and Sh10,000 minimum penalty for individuals and companies respectively or 5 per cent of the net tax due," a statement from the taxman says.

"At KRA, we are encouraged by the iTax uptake which is one of our key transformation platforms as we strive to simplify and raise efficiency in tax administration,” the body's commissioner-general John Njiraini said.

SOURCE>BUSINESS DAILY