Developers seek clarity on KRA buyer information

Players in the property industry are calling on the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) to engage them as it seeks to map out landlords.

KRA, in a bid to widen its tax basket, has been asking developers to submit details of buyers of their properties.

Urithi Housing chairman Samuel Maina however says real estate players are now calling for further engagement to iron out potentially contentious issues in submitting client information.

“Most of these cases are not operated by the developer because they exit at the time of handover. So we need more consultation to put in our take in the government roping us in,” Mr Maina said.

He however stressed that all parties involved would be required to pay the requisite tax.

“But at the end of the day, everybody will have to pay their tax obligation,” he said.

Last week Citizen Digital learnt of the directive by the Kenya Revenue Authority to have property developers provide important details of their clients to help the taxman improve collections in rental income tax.

Rental income tax was introduced in 2015, but has seen low collection with most landlords failing to declare rental income.

Data from the KRA estimates that there are about 100,000 landlords in the country.

Mr Maina argued that asking developers to provide property owners’ or tenants PINs, ID numbers, rental income among other detail, could lead to lower sales especially for those looking to keep a low profile.

“Giving out their details might lead to some legal litigation and we would want to put ourselves in that situation,” he said.

KRA is using section 59 of the Tax Procedure Act to gain access to information relating to income  or assets generating income for entities or individuals.

 

Tags:

Real Estate KRA Kenya Revenue Authority buyer details client information developers Tax Procedure Act Urithi Housing

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