On Friday, October 25, the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) announced plans to start monitoring fuel consumption by linking its electronic tax invoice management system (eTIMS) with fuel stations across the country. This new system is expected to launch in June 2025.
The goal is to promote the use of electronic tax invoices, reduce tax evasion, and improve revenue collection. According to Business Daily Africa, when motorists buy fuel, they will receive an eTIMS receipt or electronic invoice. To get these receipts, drivers will need to enter their KRA personal identification numbers (PINs) every time they purchase fuel.
This connection will allow the KRA to see fuel transactions in real-time, helping them prevent incorrect VAT claims, track sales at fuel stations, and analyze how much motorists are spending.
“There is a fuel forecourt solution that we are already piloting among fuel stations. Basically, this solution provides for a situation where eTIMS is integrated at the pump linking the fuel dispenser with the point of sale,” said Hakamba Wangwe, KRA’s chief manager for eTIMS.
Kenya has recently been focusing on improving tax compliance by encouraging the use of electronic tax invoices. As part of this effort, the KRA plans to introduce a WhatsApp chatbot that will help small business owners generate electronic tax invoices easily, aiming to boost voluntary tax compliance among micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs).
Additionally, by December 25, 2024, M-PESA Paybills and Till numbers will function as virtual Electronic Tax Registers (ETRs). This integration of mobile money transactions with tax systems is meant to make tax collection more transparent and efficient.
The KRA also plans to utilize technologies like Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning to analyze large amounts of data and identify patterns of tax evasion.
In another recent update, the Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) announced new regulations that will take effect on January 1, 2025, to ensure mobile devices are tax compliant. These regulations will apply to everyone involved, including local manufacturers, importers, distributors, and mobile network operators, to guarantee that only tax-compliant devices are sold and connected to Kenyan networks.
Importers and local device assemblers must now upload each device’s International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) number to a KRA-provided portal.
