The Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) has broken its silence after reports emerged that it had suspended taxes on all non-alcoholic beverages.
The taxman has denied the reports, saying that juices, soda and bottled water among other non–alcoholic products will continue being taxed.
Reports on a local daily claimed that the impose exercise stamps had been halted before the taxman came forth to clarify.
KRA said that the statement released to the public was misleading and untrue. KRA insisted that there are no plans to change the same.
“Taxes are imposed by law and become effective by way of statute. KRA has no mandate to defer implementation of the same,” read a statement from KRA.
The taxman confirmed that it had suspended the implementation Excisable Goods Management System (EGMS). It further said that the new suspension is not a tax as alleged.
“KRA postponed the implementation of Excisable Goods Management System (EGMS) which is a tool for accounting exercise production and traceability of excisable goods. This is not a tax,” said KRA.
The postponement of the EGMS was reached in a bid to ensure that manufacturers across the country have enough time to install the new system.