The county government of Kisii could be losing up to Sh500 million through tax evasion by individuals allied to politicians, a member of county assembly has claimed.
Speaking at his Bombaba ward on Tuesday, Koina Onyancha said the county was capable of collecting up to Sh2 billion from revenue collected locally, in contrast to the current Sh1.1 billion.
Onyancha called for thorough auditing of businesses by authorities, besides urging politicians to desist from encouraging tax evasion contrary to the rule of law.
“Payment of taxes is a compulsory requirement by the constitution, but in Kisii County, this has become a norm. Some individuals are enjoying immunity from politicians making collection of revenue to be below the threshold. The county is big and I believe we can collect more than what is being collected at the moment,” he said.
He threatened to unmask big businesses which he alleges to be operating without permits, besides urging Governor James Ongwae to act on politicians who he accused of using immunity to evade taxes.
“I will soon table the businesses that are enjoying political immunity and that will be very soon. The governor has an opportunity to deal with the politicians, most of them who are allied to him. We cannot continue losing millions to such unscrupulous deals,” he said.
Onyancha said development in the county was slow due to little revenue collected by the county government.