Business for cyber café owners in Kisii County boomed on Tuesday as the deadline for filing tax returns finally caught up with the residents.
Taxpayers were in a desperate rush to beat the June 30 deadline set by the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA), which is an extension after the launch of the electronic iTAX system.
A spot-check by Hivisasa revealed that demand for these services had been increasing as the deadline fast approached with traders charging up to Sh500 for each return filed by Tuesday morning.
Those seeking the services at the few available cybers in kisii town described the exorbitant charges as ‘double taxation’. The most affected are civil servants and teachers, some of whom have to incur transport costs from remote parts of the county to access internet services in the town.
“They are taking advantage of our last minute rush,” one taxpayer complained as he hurriedly paid.
Cyber café operators justified the inflated charges saying they were spending a lot of time and data filing the returns as the iTAX system had slowed down due to enormous traffic.
Cyrus Masese a cyber operator in Kisii remarked that the returns were high despite the longer time taken by the site to respond.
“Business is good although it is taking rather too long to file the returns as the iTAX system is congested during the day. We’re forced to work at night when the traffic is much lower,” said Cyrus.
Those interviewed expressed their frustrations at filing the returns online with some saying they had opted to do so offline.